It Started With Pizza
by knarl
Summary: Charley's day wasn't going well. With the helicarriers having crashed, causing traffic to be a nightmare, being late for work, yelled at by her boss and ready to hit her head against a brick wall. Now it seems some guy with a metal arm has broken into the store and somehow this led to her offering him pizza... (Bucky/OC) Set after CATWS. NOW INCLUDING INFINITY WAR. completed.
1. Pizza

**Chapter 1 - Probably the strangest meeting**

Charley was beginning to feel the weight of her day crush down on her.

The day hadn't started well, with her phone running out of battery causing her phone to die and her alarm to not alert her, meaning she was late to wake up. This resulted in her having to miss breakfast, which she knew would leave her feeling hungry for the rest of the day. Her quick rush led her to leave her cell phone on her bedside table where it would remain charging for the rest of the day.

Her day only worsened during her journey to work, where she was even later. Yesterday's fall of the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarriers resulted in a large traffic jam from her place to work. She knew she was already risking getting to work late when she left, and after sitting in traffic for the past half an hour she was sure if she had walked to work she would have arrived quicker.

In all honesty, she was surprised her car hadn't broken down yet. That would royally screw up her day further.

When she entered Target, where she worked as an assistant manager, her boss was quick to rush over to her. A glare could clearly be seen on his face from across the other side of the room.

"Where have you been?"He reached her, crossing his arms sternly. "It's almost been an hour since you should have clocked in."

"The traffic-"

"I understand the traffic's bad at the moment, but you could have at least called," he shook his head as if telling a child off for having stolen from a cookie jar. Charley shrugged her shoulders, defeated. If only she had taken her phone.

"I accidentally left my phone at-," she tried but her boss cut her off.

"Excuse after excuse. If this continues we may start evaluating your worth to this company," her boss finished finally, stalking off probably to go kick puppies. Charley sulked over to the stock floor and grabbed a load of jeans and began folding them up to begin the rest of her miserable day.

She didn't think it was fair how her boss had spoken to her. Yes, she _had_ been late and it hadn't been the first time and she _had_ been late at least four times in the past month, but overall her working performance was pretty good. She got the job done with only mild complaining. She had never had a single customer complain about her and… she was damn good at folding those jeans.

The rest of her day carried on as normal. Although her normal still _sucked_. She had five customers in total, asking her to go up to the stock room to check if they had the same leather jacket. _Five times._ The first time she actually checked. The next three times the customers insisted (despite telling each of them they didn't have the leather jacket in stock), so she pretended to have a look but instead spent a minute or so chatting with her friend. The final time a customer asked she went straight up to the restroom and gave herself a five minute break.

Normally she would have gone up and actually checked but today she just could not be asked.

When closing time came Charley was about ready to grab her bag and run when her boss told her it was her turn to stay behind and close up. Mumbling a complaint under her breath she stayed behind waiting for the last customers to leave, and received a warning from her boss telling her not to be late next time. Then she was left alone.

It always felt so big when alone in the store. When customers were busy bustling about Charley hardly noticed the sheer size of it.

Part of her was kind of glad her boss had set her up to closing the store. There was a computer in the office, and her laptop at home had seized working. She decided she would stay a little longer, no one would know. She had been meaning to catch up on the news of what had happened with S.H.I.E.L.D.. She had heard that name countless times in the last twenty-four hours, but didn't understand what the hell had happened other than the fact that three helicarriers had come crashing down on the city. Luckily, Charley lived far enough away as not to be caught in the destruction but close enough to feel the effects of the events.

She ordered pizza whilst she waited and began doing some research into what had happened yesterday.

It seemed people were suggesting it had been a terrorist attack, but Charley delved deeper into the information at hand and discovered S.H.I.E.L.D. _had_ been a government run intelligence agency which had been formed after World War II.

She didn't really understand what had happened, only there was a certain attention focused on a guy with a metal arm who had escaped the wreckage and was now a wanted person. Apparently he was dangerous and was still in Washington DC somewhere.

Her pizza came, which momentarily paused her research. When she came back she began to shut down the computer and turn off the store lights, beginning to feel the weight of the day drag on her.

She decided she would eat her pizza on the way home. Charley grabbed her handbag, panicking slightly when she couldn't find her phone before remembering she had left it at home, and readied herself to leave when there was a sudden clank from the main store.

Charley froze. One hand holding tightly to the pizza, the other clutched onto her handbag. In her head she ran through all the possible things that could have created that noise in a completely empty store but came up with no possible solution, other than the fact she was no longer alone.

Deciding pizza was not going to help her in this situation she decided to perch it back onto the desk and instead pick up the closest thing to her: a stapler.

The shuffling continued and Charley was almost certain she was not alone anymore. She carefully approached the shop floor entrance and turned to face the noise, her heart thumping in her chest.

It was in the men's section she saw him.

His back was turned to her, she could see that much. She squinted her eyes to try and see him clearer but the darkened room made it nearly impossible.

She tried to speak out to him but found her mouth had been closed shut in fear. All she managed was a small squeak, which caused her to instantly shove a hand over her mouth as soon as the high pitched sound echoed through the empty room.

"Shit," Charley managed as the man dropped the clothing and jumped around to face her. Charley instinctively ducked behind a coat hanger and looked at him through the rack, which had no clothes on it and provided no cover what so ever. "I know you're there so just… drop the jeans."

She could see the man just staring at her, frozen in place, although she doubted it was because of fear. Now that he had turned to her she could see his face clearer. He had shoulder length brown hair, and darkening features which suited him well. Charley wasn't sure if she was the cause for his fallen expression or if it was his natural face.

When the man made no attempt to move, Charley slowly moved from behind the rack and made sure to show the stapler clearly. His eyes traveled to it for a second before frowning and looking back at her.

"Are you just stealing or are you planning on killing me?" Charley asked uncertainly, half joking. The mysterious man didn't look like he was about to jump at her, he was only looking at jeans. Although she half wondered why he bothered to steal from a place like Target. He could have aimed for higher standard clothing if he _was_ going to steal. Nothing like this ever happened in Target. "How did you even get in here? The alarm didn't go off or anything- _oh._ "

The man had swayed a little and in doing so the tint of his left arm reflected back a silver metal back at Charley.

"Shit," Charley uttered. "Shit. You're the guy-," she pointed wildly behind her shoulder at the computer which had now fully shut off. " _Are you the guy?"_ She doubted there were many metal men but she didn't want to jump to conclusions. "Shit, you _are_ the guy. How many other metal armed people are there in Washington? Probably not many. Shit."

The man held out a hand as if to stop her, but Charley was now fully panicking.

"I am going to die. I am going to die on the shop floor in target, holding a fucking stapler. Oh my god." Charley gripped the stapler tighter, feeling her heart beating out of control. If this man didn't kill her, a heart attack surely would. The metal armed assassin looked around wildly, probably looking for something to kill her with, although she was sure a punch to the head with that metal arm would probably do just the trick. "Of all the bloody ways to die this is how I end. This is so typical."

Distantly, she heard the man utter quietly, "I'm not going to hurt you," but she washed past it, focusing on what was happening before her.

Now she really wished she had done her research on the S.H.I.E.L.D. incident, seeing as the guy who had caused it was standing right in front of her.

A metal armed assassin was right in front of her.

Who was wet.

She didn't know why this particular small detail caught her attention, but she noticed the way the man's clothes stuck to him. His hair didn't look wet, however, as if it had been hours since he had had contact with water, but his clothes had dried terribly.

It all clicked in Charley's mind. The crashing helicarriers had fallen on top of the water. Maybe he just wanted some dry clothes.

Charley bit her lip, trying to think clearly when the man spoke.

"Sorry, I'll leave. I didn't think anyone was in- the lights were off and I needed…" He gestured to the jeans he was still holding that he instantly turned and put back. Charley, still a little wary, narrowed her eyes trying to assess the situation, but the blinding knowledge that the assassin from the cause of destruction in Washington was standing right before her was sort of distracting.

"You needed clothes?" Charley managed to choke out, pulling herself from going into complete shock. "Um, okay." If this was the only way to get her out of this situation, she was going to take it. She began to walk towards the jeans table to help this _customer,_ when the man jumped backwards, almost as if he was fearful of _her_. She ignored it for the most part and picked up the jeans or the table. "Okay." She took a deep breath, steadying herself. The adrenaline pumping through her was making her shake

"What size are you? 'Cause these ones will be way too big for you." She reached over to take the ones he was clutching way too tightly. He flinched at the movement but handed them to her anyway. A million questions ran through Charley's mind, but she knew she couldn't just out right ask 'why did you just flinch?', that would be rude.

"I don't know," he answered uncertainly, "I'm not sure. They used to just give me clothes…" he trailed off.

"They?" Charley raised an eyebrow knowing she was walking into dangerous territory. A voice screamed at her in her head to just give him the clothes he needed and then he would leave without slitting her throat.

"It doesn't matter," he replied.

This made Charley's job a lot more difficult. She turned to look at him and looked him up and down, trying to see what clothing size he would be. Something bothered her though. His clothes just screamed assassin at her. She wasn't sure if it was the combat boots, the complete blackness of his clothing, the clasps around his middle, which was where Charley supposed the guns were meant to be held, and to top it off, a metal arm. Charley decided she would find him clothes that made him look less… killer like.

She searched through the pile of jeans and found one that looked like it would fit him. "Here." She held it out to him. Slowly he took it, looking at it warily as if it was about to explode. Again, she ignored it and moved past him to the t-shirt section and found a plaid shirt that looked relatively normal. She came back to him and gave it to him.

"Do you want to try them on? See if they fit? 'Cause I have no idea if they do or not. There's a fitting room over there."

"No," he replied quickly, "I'll trust your judgement."

"Okay," Charley nodded, not really sure what to do now. Her heart rate seemed to have slowed down now that she had realised she wasn't going to die. Although she was probably going to get fired, considering she was giving clothes away for free. "Is there anything else you need?"

He held up what was already in his hands. "Do you have any gloves?"

Charley peeked at his left hand which he had slyly put under the shirt she had given him. She suspected he wanted to hide it from her view. Maybe he really didn't want to hurt her. Right now she had a hard time believing this was the man that was being plastered over the news with a high alert telling civilians to avoid him. From what she could see, the man before her simply looked afraid.

"Yes we do," she gulped. "I'll be back."

She was quick to run downstairs and pick up a pair of black gloves. It was the only pair they had considering it was the summer months and gloves weren't really in the season fashion right now.

When she got back upstairs she saw him looking at a jacket, running a hand over it.

"You can have it if you want."

He looked away from the jacket and at her, blinking as if in shock.

"Why are you helping me?"

Charley was caught unawares and realised she had no idea how to answer the question.

She still couldn't get over the idea that an assassin was standing before her in Target, _with a metal arm._ But she was helping him. She couldn't explain why, other than the fact that she, one: thought it was probably the best way to get out of this situation without dying and two: she _wanted_ to help him.

"I just thought helping you might keep me alive so…" She picked up the gloves and passed it to him.

"I won't hurt you." He repeated his words from earlier. Charley gulped, hating herself for believing the words spilling from his mouth. He had made no move on her that would be considered violent; he had simply come into the store for a fresh set of clothes.

How could she think he would harm her for that?

He took the gloves from her and shoved them instantly on. Charley was thankful he had done so, it was easier to pretend he was _normal_.

"Do you want some pizza?" The words spilled from her mouth before she realized she had said them, and before she could take them back, he replied.

"I've never had that before."

Her shoulders slumped. How tragic had this man's life been that he had never experienced the taste of pizza? Trying to act nonchalant about it, she gestured to where her pizza was still perched upon the desk.

"It's the best thing in the world." Charley tried to smile in this kind of serious situation. "It might have gone cold now, but cold pizza is still amazing."

He looked over at the Target exit as if debating whether to stay or leave. Charley was split between wanting him to get the hell out so she could actually breathe again and genuinely wanting him to stay. Curiosity in this man overpowered her, as she wondered how _he_ was a mass murderer.

Finally after an eternity, he turned to face her and nodded. She doubted he had eaten in a while, and hunger was overpowering him.

She led him into the room and flipped open the box of pizza, nabbing a slice for herself. "Take as much as you want," she said, plopping herself back down on the desk chair. She was worried about how relaxed she was being. "I'm Charlotte by the way. Charley for short."

"Charley," he repeated, testing the name out on his tongue. He nodded once before making his way over to the pizza. The next time Charley looked up he had delved deep into the pizza, eating each slice in two or three mouthfuls. "This is good."

"Told you." Charley chuckled finishing off her own first slice. She dusted her hands off before reaching over for another. There were only two left. "So you know my name, what's yours?" Charley knew she might as well willingly sign her own death certificate. But if she was going to die tonight she was going to die eating pizza and learning maybe a few secrets about this mystery man.

He looked uncertain and frowned. "I-I'm not sure."

"You don't know your own name!"Her eyebrows rose in shock. "How?"

"Bucky," he said, but he sounded unsure of himself. He looked away from her and down at the pizza in his hand. "That's what he called me. Bucky. It sounded right."

Charley was beginning to feel there was much more to this Bucky. It seemed he couldn't remember anything. Not even his own name. Charley frowned, the sudden urge to hug him befell her but she resisted it. She needed to remember this _was_ an assassin.

"Did you bump your head during the helicarriers crash or something?"

"No." He looked down at his pizza in confusion before plopping it back down in the pizza box, uneaten. "I should go. I shouldn't be here." He jumped up from where he was sitting and Charley found herself following him.

She was confused just as much as him, she should be relieved he was leaving.

Bucky picked up the clothes Charley had gone to get him before and tucked them under his arm. "I don't have anything to pay you with."

Charley waved it off. "It's on me. I suppose I should just be grateful I still have my neck in one piece-"

"I told you I wouldn't hurt you." He sounded upset she had brought it up again and Charley left it be. He really did have no intention of harming her.

"You can come back," Charley muttered, barely audible but he heard it. He span around and faced her, narrowing his eyes.

"You're not scared of me?"

Shrugging she said, "Well, as far as being an assassin goes you seem like one of the nice ones." Surprisingly, this caused a smile out of him. A small one at that, but there was a definite twitch in his lips that curved upwards. With a sense of pride at having been the cause of his smile, Charley finished, "I'll get some pizza again or maybe Chinese next time."

Internally, Charley was smacking herself for being so stupid but she couldn't stop herself from hoping that he _did_ come back. She wanted to find out more.

"I don't know."

Charley shrugged "Well, I'm here if you ever want to."

With that he nodded and turned towards the exit. There was no sound of the door opening or closing. There wasn't even any evidence that Bucky had been there in the first place. It was just as quiet and unsettling as it was before.

Charley returned to her desk, packed up what was left of the pizza and left the store. The realization she had just invited an assassin to her work place again dawned on her. She was an idiot.

 **A/N this is a new story me and my friend came up together with. for anyone who is reading this and worried I won't be continuing with my other fic: How to tame an outlaw. I am I promise, I know i'm slow at updating it but I am still updating it until it's finished. I promise**

 **Thanks to everyone who has read this chapter, i hope you liked it and continue on reading :D**


	2. Chinese

Charley made sure to take the evening shift from then on out, not wanting anyone else to accidentally bump into the Winter Soldier himself. That would be an awkward situation.

She had also done some research. Every night she would stay behind work for an hour or two, order take-away (which probably wasn't healthy) and research the events that had occurred with S.H.I.E.L.D. and another organisation called Hydra. It was unsettling to think that all of this had happened right under citizens' noses without them knowing it. All the secrets they had been hiding, all the lies and it was now open to everyone's eyes.

It turned out the metal armed assassin had been brainwashed for the past seventy years and was turned from Captain America's former best friend into what he was known as now; The Winter Soldier. His actions from the day before were beginning to make a lot more sense now.

It was surreal to think that she had met Captain America's former friend.

"Stranger things have happened," Charley muttered to herself. It was the fifth day that she had stayed behind to take the late shift. The more research she did into the Winter Soldier the more she wanted to help him and wished he would come back. Maybe he would need more clothes soon.

She didn't know why she kept hoping he would come back. She didn't expect him to either. She was a nobody in comparison to him and although she wouldn't necessarily call him a superhero, with all the bad things he'd done, he definitely had the capability of being one. She wasn't worth his time.

But she still waited for him, hoping he would come.

On the sixth day Charley ordered a Chinese again (she was most definitely going to die of a heart attack), although she did it from a different Chinese store to avoid the look of judgement when the deliverer realised he was delivering to the same person two nights in a row.

It was chilly today and it was wired so that when the store lights turned off the heaters did too and she was beginning to wish she had worn more layers. She set herself up for another two hours of research, using a jacket she had found on one of the hangers and wrapping it around her. She told herself it was purely for comfort and she wasn't stealing the jacket, she would put it right back before she left. She also knew if anymore clothes mysteriously went missing fingers would point right back to her, seeing as she made sure she was the last one in the store every night. It would look suspicious.

A lot of the Winter Soldier documents were written in German or Russian, so a lot of the time she used Google Translate to understand what was being written and anyway, half of it was scientific crap that she couldn't even begin to understand-

 _Clank._

Charley jumped from her seat, completely unaware of her surroundings. In her jump, her elbow jolted, knocking over the coke can she had brought with her Chinese, causing it to crash onto the floor in a puddle.

"Shit," Charley groaned, getting up from her seat. She went to clean up the puddle when the only light from the hallway was suddenly blocked. She looked up at the door, blinking rapidly to try and see what had caused the disruption, and saw the glint of a metal arm. Again, she jumped, caught unaware by his presence but collected herself quickly. "Jesus, you scared me. Knock next time," she said, only just noticing the red star painted onto his shoulder.

His eyes were wide.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you," he apologised sincerely, slowly moving closer as if getting ready to move back at the first sign of Charley flinching. But she didn't. By now she knew he wouldn't hurt her. "I needed some more clothes...," with his metal arm he gestured to his right arm where there was a slash in the plaid shirt that Charley had given him. "I didn't know where else to go."

Asking no questions, Charley nodded and got up, making her way over to the men's section. She knew she couldn't keep giving clothes away for free like this. It wouldn't be long before the store noticed and she was given the blame. But, she couldn't turn her eye away from him. Looking at him now his condition seemed to have worsened. The dark circles under his eyes suggested to her he hadn't slept in days. Did he even have anywhere to sleep? Perhaps she'd ask him.

She grabbed a few pairs of shirts this time; a jumper to help him with the cold, another plaid shirt, a regular plain one, a few new jackets and a pair of trainers. It was tempting to go into their superhero section and pick out Captain America shirt, but she thought he probably wouldn't appreciate that.

She came back with a whole bundle in her arm. "Is this enough?"

He looked down at the pile, uncertain. "This is too much. I have nothing to pay with."

She shrugged it off. "It's on me." She had some savings she could use. The clothing in this store was quite cheap so that was a bonus. She'd just have to make sure to put the money in the till today before she left, otherwise someone might catch her. Technically it wouldn't be stealing.

He still looked unsure about taking the clothing so Charley forced it on him, dumping the clothes into his metal arm.

"It's fine, honestly," she assured him, making her way back over to the desk. "I got Chinese if you want some." He didn't look like he had eaten very well either, which probably contributed to the dark circles under his eyes. From then on, she made it her personal mission to make him eat something tonight. "I brought enough for five," Charley encouraged, holding out a pot of chicken chow mein.

Finally he accepted it, holding the tub with his metal fist and taking the fork Charley offered him with the other. However he didn't take a bite, but continued to stare at his food.

"Is it alright?" Charley frowned, looking over the desk to see if there was anything that would be preventing him from eating it. "Do you not like Chinese? I can order something else if you like."

"No," he replied quickly. "It's just…" he trailed off.

Charley didn't understand but decided to tuck into her own meal which was calling out to her. It was still hot which was pretty impressive considering the temperature in the store.

When the fork made connection with her own lips, she saw Bucky visibly relax. That was when she realised.

A complete stranger had just offered him food, a man who had been under constant abuse for the last seventy years and was never offered anything. He didn't trust her, and that was okay. She expected that but she didn't anticipate him thinking she had poisoned his food.

"It's not poisoned you know," she told him, trying not to sound hurt that he thought she was capable of that. She _had_ to understand he had every right not to trust her.

"I didn't say you had."

She raised one eyebrow at him. "You didn't have to say anything, your face read it all." She waved her chop sticks at him, feigning accusation.

"Sorry," he muttered, casting his eyes down at his food but still not taking a bite. To prove a point, Charley lent over to his pot and picked up a small bit of his chicken chow mein with her own chopsticks and shoved it fully in her mouth with no hesitations.

"Like you told me last time," Charley begun, "you told me you wouldn't hurt me. It would be pretty rude of me to poison you now. There's nothing in the Chinese." He nodded and began to tuck into his meal rapidly. For a man who had thought the Chinese was poisonous before he half chucked it down quickly. As he ate Charley added quickly, "you can trust me, I'm not Hydra."

Instantly he stopped eating. Charley knew she was walking a fine line here, obviously Hydra would be a sensitive topic, but she wanted to see what his reaction would be. "You know who they are?"

"Relax," Charley sent him a half smile, "it's all over the internet and news. I'd have to be deaf _and_ blind to not know who Hydra was."

Bucky gulped, seeming suddenly afraid. Charley thought he looked as if he was about to get up and ready to run for it. "Do you know about the things I've done then?"

"I know what Hydra has _made_ you do," she shrugged offhandedly, as if mass murder was no big deal. She knew that wasn't the case, and what he had done was wrong. From the looks of his file he had killed hundreds, but none of that was by choice and that was the difference. Bucky opened his mouth to object but Charley beat him to it. "I'm not afraid of you if that's what you think. From what I can tell you don't seem like a bad guy."

"You've met me twice," Bucky grumbled but he relaxed back down into his seat.

"Well I already know you eat with your mouth shut. So that's a good sign," Charley grinned leaning over to grab another can of coke, "manners are important."

For the second time since the incident on the helicarriers, Bucky grinned along with her.

A silence settled between them which Charley filled by opening up her can of coke, the sound of the fizz echoed around the room for a few seconds. She remembered the spillage of coke on the floor and made a mental note to clean it up before leaving. Right now she wanted to relish in the fact that Bucky had returned to the store.

"What do I call you anyways?" Charley awkwardly slurped at her drink. "Now that we've established your name is in fact Bucky, do you want to be called that or James or something else?"

"James Buchanan Barnes," Bucky tasted the words on his own lips. It sounded foreign coming from him as if he was saying it in a strange language that he didn't fully speak. "He called me that." Finally he shrugged "You can call me whatever you like."

"Okay," Charley nodded looking at him to see which she preferred. "I think I like you as Bucky. James sounds way too formal for you."

"It's better than what the rest of the world is calling me. Murderer, killer, assassin."

Feeling the sudden urge to comfort him, Charley shook her head. "None of that was your own doing. That was the hydra organisation, whoever they are." She wanted to question him further about Hydra, but thought it wasn't a good idea to bring up past memories of an organisation that had brainwashed him and basically destroyed his whole life.

"It doesn't matter anyway," Bucky said quietly.

"What doesn't?"

"What you call me," Bucky explained. He swirled his food around with his fork before placing it down only half eaten. "I won't be coming back. I'm too dangerous to be around." Charley went to defend him. She wanted to get to know Bucky. Bucky, not the Winter Soldier. From as far as she could tell she never even met the Winter Solider and she wanted to help him.

 _Which was probably slightly illegal, considering he is a wanted person_ , Charley thought, but brushed the idea aside. She simply wanted to help him; there was no harm in that?

"I can't stay in Washington anyway. If I stay long enough Hydra will catch me again."

"Hydra?" Charley recited, "I thought they were finished, along with S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"It'll never be over," Bucky mumbled, "cut off one head, two more take its place." When Charley looked at him confused, he waved a hand as if to breeze over it. "It's just Hydra's saying."

"Oooh," Charley mouthed, "that's why it's called Hydra, after the Greek mythical beast. I _had_ wondered why it was called Hydra."

"Why do you care?" Bucky suddenly said accusingly. His tone shocking Charley. She saw his jaw tighten in frustration and the once relaxed air was erased, replaced by tension. "You should be calling the police not giving me clothes away for free and feeding me."

"I was just trying to help," Charley stuttered not sure how to handle this.

"I am dangerous to be around, Charley."

"I can make my own judgement on that thank you very much," Charley fired up, glaring at Bucky, suddenly finding herself angry at what he was suggesting.

"You don't know what I'm capable of, you know nothing about me." He placed both of his arms on the side of the chair and used it to push himself up forcefully and made his way to the door. Charley followed him.

"Look, I get it. I read your file. You've gone for so long without anyone, constantly brainwashed and have given up any hope on a normal life. You're afraid," Charley listed off, parts of it was facts she had read in his file, others were her making assumptions by what she had already seen before her, "I'm just letting you know I'm going to be here every night if you're ever hungry, if you ever need clothes and… and I'm a good listener if you ever need someone to talk to."

Bucky stopped in his tracks and turned. Despite the darkness she saw him intake a deep breath. He nodded once and then shrank into the shadows. Once again disappearing right before Charley's eyes. She was beginning to wonder if he really was a ghost.

"You better come back," she called into the darkness, knowing he wouldn't have been able to leave the building yet and was still within ears reach. The exit was ages away. "You better, because I'm getting Indian, and that shit is expensive!"


	3. Indian

The following day Charley entered work with a clear mind. She was sure Bucky would show up tonight, she had a strong feeling he had listened to her words and hadn't left Washington, or at least she hoped he did. He was nice to talk to, even if he didn't say much.

However, as soon as she entered work her boss was standing crossed armed, tapping his foot away creating a soft pat on the concrete flooring of the store. She gulped, readying herself for the worst. Her boss probably knew that she had been giving away free clothes. Last time Bucky came it had been a lot more than one item, although Charley made sure to pay before she left, but there was bound to have been something that got her caught. Maybe they looked at security footage, but they never did so why would they start now?

Ideas rushed through her head as she made to stand in front of her boss, trying to look as innocent as possible. Perhaps she could play it off like she knew nothing.

"Is everything alright, Aiden?"

"Were you closing up the store last night?"

 _Shit. He knows._ Charley thought bitterly feeling her lips tightening up in anticipation. She tried to keep her face as straight as she could. "Yes," she nodded.

"Then may I ask why there was a puddle of cola that was spilled on the floor in the office?" Charley almost groaned. _That was all_. She had forgotten all about the puddle of coke that she had spilled that evening, too delighted that she had seen Bucky again. "Seeing as you were the last person in the office last night and there was no coke in there before I left, I'm guessing it was you."

"Sorry, yes it was," Charley said, utterly relieved, "I must have forgotten to clean it up."

"Need I remind you on the company's policy. No fizzy drinks in the offices." He raised his eyebrows and loomed over her. It irritated Charley how he looked down on her like a child when he himself was twenty-two, only two years older than Charley. "It could attract rodents."

"Yes I'm so sorry. You're right, it was wrong of me." Charley attempted to keep the sarcasm out of her voice but failed miserably as she saw Aiden bite the inner side of his lips, preventing him from saying something. "I have a lot of work to do. I hope you accept my sincerest apologies"

She brushed past him and into the stock room to collect her first batch of clothing, and readying herself for a busy day ahead of her. At least she might see Bucky tonight. That was what kept her going throughout the day as Aiden kept making pokes at her. She didn't know what he didn't just fire her if he hated her so bad, he had the power to, but she supposed she had done nothing wrong to deserve being fired. He had nothing on her.

The day finally drew to a close when Aiden handed her the store keys for the sixth time in a row, giving her another warning, "I've got my eye on you, Weller."

When Aiden was out of her view Charley rolled her eyes. "Jackass," she muttered under her breath, going to the office for another session of research. It was becoming a habit of hers. She would usually order the food before but when she went to order from her favourite Indian takeaway store online, she discovered it had been closed for the last week due to being so close to the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier crash. Determined to have Indian tonight, Charley would have to go to another one, she had tried it out before but it wasn't nearly as nice and they only did collect in store. Although that would mean it would be cheaper. Charley weighed up the positives and negatives in her head.

For one she would have to walk, and walking could mean she would miss Bucky. But, it was only a short walk and Bucky usually came an hour later. And, she really wanted Indian. She was sure she could make it in time.

She gathered her things together and locked up the store, not wanting to risk anyone breaking in (with the exception of Bucky) whilst she was gone.

Her trip to the Indian take-away was uneventful. However she did earn a few confused stares when she said she wanted pretty much a bit of everything, not sure what it was that Bucky would like. But they did as she asked giving her a massive bag of boxed up take-away food and asking for a hefty price.

She handed the cash over regretfully at least knowing she would have days of left overs to eat.

 _Bucky had better come tonight,_ she thought as she walked back the way she had just come.

"Charley?" She turned at the sound of her name. With a name as common as hers she usually didn't bother as people were often calling someone else, but there was something familiar about the voice. She turned and saw Bucky on the other side of the street, wearing the jacket she had given him with his hands stuffed inside his pockets. He must have been just about to enter the store when Charley came down the street.

Charley suppressed a smile, relieved he had come and crossed the street to join him.

"You came?" She couldn't contain her smile anymore and found it blazing up on her face at the mere sight of him. "I didn't think you would."

He shrugged, "I guess Indian sounded good."

She leant forward as if about to share a really interesting secret with him, "you know, if you keep eating the food I give you I'm pretty sure you're going to end up with a heart attack."

He shrugged, "I'm pretty sure being a super soldier I'm immune to heart attacks."

"You're a super solider!" Charley raised her eyebrows in surprise clearly not having read that part of his file, as she didn't remember it. Truth was, she hadn't read a _lot_ of his folder. After reading about the brain wash and torture side of it she had felt so sick she had to close it and take a breather, feeling sick to the pit of her stomach of what they had done to him for the past seventy years or so. She half wondered if others had read his files and thought the same, or if they really did think he was a monster. "Like, Captain America with the super solider serum? That's awesome."

"Something like that." He scratched the back of his head with his right arm awkwardly. Charley felt this was coming into sensitive issue and decided to back track before he ran away like he had before.

"So…" she held up the bag of Indian, "Want some of it? I've got enough to feed an army, like I think I brought out the store. I was severely judged, I wasn't sure what you would like," she began to carry on walking down the street, glad when Bucky began walking next to her. "Ever have Indian before?"

"Can't say that I have."

"Well, there's a first for everything, ey?" She nudged his shoulder playfully to see what his reaction would be and began grinning in delight when Bucky let out a small chuckle himself. "You know, you've got a nice smile."

"I have?" Bucky asked mildly interested, the comment made his wipe the smile of his face immediately. Charley frowned, missing the curve of his lips.

"Yeah you do," she replied simply.

They reached the outside of the store building, Charley went to grab her keys when an idea hit her. "Hey, do you want to eat somewhere else?" His head shot up to meet hers suddenly looking nervous. "I've just already locked up and it's a nice night tonight. There's a park not too far from here."

"Is it in the open?"

"Parts of it are," Charley admitted, tucking her keys away again, "but there are parts that are enclosed, there's a bench there that's hidden behind some bushes."

Bucky looked around as if expecting to see someone following him. Charley watched him carefully and saw just how rigid he was, seeing his eyes narrowing at a particularly dark alley way across the street. "I'd prefer to eat inside somewhere."

She nodded, a little disappointed but got her keys out nevertheless thinking that she should just be content that he was comfortable being with her alone. As she went to open the shutters however Bucky placed his good hand on hers.

"It's alright; we'll eat where you want."

"It's no trouble if you want to eat inside, we can."

"No," Bucky shook his head, "I need to start living more normally, I can't keep looking behind my back for Hydra."

"You think they're still after you?" Charley asked tightening her grip on the Indian bag as she almost dropped it when transferring her keys _back_ into her pocket. She would have probably cried.

"Probably," he shrugged as if he didn't care but Charley knew worry was clawing at him. She wondered if he really knew what everything was in this world, he had been frozen for so many years did he really have any time to settle down into this century like Steve Rogers had. She doubted Hydra gave him that luxury. She looked up and saw Bucky, brows knitted together, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't really know what I'm doing. I don't know if they're after me and then there's that Steve guy-"

"Captain America," Charley offered finding it weird she was talking to someone who had once been friends with _the_ Captain America.

"Yeah him," Bucky nodded, "I'm not sure if I should go find him, I know he's looking for me. He knew but- but I don't know him. With everyone after me… I don't really know what to do."

Charley was not expecting this bombshell. She had no advice to offer the guy, not exactly having any shared life experience with him. She wanted to tell him something that would help him, but couldn't find anything to say. instead she held up the Indian in her arms.

"Let's start with eating some Indian like normal people and then we'll go from there. How about that?" She gestured to up the road. "We can go to my apartment if you don't feel like staying out in the open. My car's just down the road."

"You sure that's alright?" Bucky asked once again, shoving his hands in his pockets. Charley noticed he did this when feeling uncertain of himself.

"Yeah, anyway it's starting to get a bit chilly now. The park wouldn't be that nice now," After going for a ten minute walk to the Indian and then standing outside for another ten minutes she was beginning to feel the bitter sting of the cold and re-evaluated her previous statement of being a _nice night_. She really needed to start wearing more layers.

"If you're sure. I don't want to intrude in your home."

"You won't be." Charley offered him a smile beginning to walk down the road where her car was. "I'm inviting you. It'll be nice. Just two friends."

"Friends?" Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"Well I figured after everything's that's happened over the last few days we can consider each other friends."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yeah, I would be a terrible housemate."

The rest of the way to the car they walked in silence. For the first time however, it wasn't an awkward silence. The two strolled down the street next to one another the breeze calmly blowing. It wasn't until they reached her car that she felt Bucky staring at her with a complex expression.

"What?" She chuckled when he instantly turned away when she caught him. "What is it?"

"I'm just trying to figure out why I'm trusting you so much."

"Don't ask me," Charley shrugged, taking out her car keys and unlocking the car. She pulled open the driver's side and took the wheel, dumping the Indian in the back seat. Bucky hesitantly entered the other side without saying anything; she smiled when she saw him leaning over for his seatbelt. "Maybe I've got a trustworthy face."

"For all I know you could be Hydra tricking me." Bucky stared ahead at the road as Charley started the car. The street was deserted at this time of night so driving wouldn't be a problem, there would be barely any traffic. "And I'm just trusting you blindly." There was an ounce of irritation in his voice that disturbed Charley as his metal arm suddenly clutched the seat belt a little tighter. For a moment she was afraid he would jump out the driver's side and run.

"Do you really think that I'm Hydra?"

"No." Charley was pleased to hear him answering almost instantly. "That's what worries me, I shouldn't be this relaxed. Hydra's after me and I'm eating Indian food."

"Even more reason to just sit and enjoy the time that you can," Charley argued. "Anyway, if you keep suspecting everyone to be Hydra how do you expect to move on."

Bucky said no more on the matter. Instead he move forward on his seat looking outside at the road. "I can't remember driving in a car this slow before."

"Are you mocking my driving skills?"

"No, no… I just meant to say I've never just been in a car just to drive." Charley waited for him to explain further. Taking a deep breath he continued. "I was only ever in a car for two reasons. If Hydra was transporting me from one place to another, and I was always in the back of a van with no idea where we were and if I was hunting down someone to- to kill them." He gulped on the last bit. "It's relaxing."

Charley lips curved downwards in response. With one hand still on the wheel she placed her other hand on his shoulder. At first he flinched away from her touch but eventually sank into it. "What about before all of this? Before world war two? You must have driven a car then?" She wasn't really sure on the history car but she was pretty sure most people had cars in the 40s.

"I can't remember." He shrugged once again as if it was no big deal. They drove under a bridge where there were light dotted on the walls. Bucky turned to look out of the window at them, and for the rest of the journey was in a haze, Charley wondered if he was trying to sort through missing memories in his head.

They pulled up outside of Charley's apartment. She locked the car door and Bucky followed her inside. It was then that she forgot about her Indian still lying on the backseat of her car. She turned to unlock her car again when she saw Bucky already carrying it. Both arms wrapped around the take-away. At some point he must have put on the glove Charley had given him a week previously as his metal armed hand was covered up.

"Thanks." She smiled fondly going to take it from him but he moved it away.

"I can handle a small take-away," he grinned and a little playfully.

"You sure? There's a lot of stuff in there. It might be a bit too heavy for a super soldier," she mocked back, smirking as Bucky sent her a half glare. She smiled at how relaxed he was being around her. This was only their third meeting and he already trusted her.

She reached her apartment floor. Just as she was about to open her door and go inside, she back tracked snapping the door shut again. Bucky frowned at her as Charley quickly explained. "Don't judge me alright but my apartment is a mess. I don't have much time on my hands to tidy it." When Bucky shrugged she went to open it but once again snapped it shut. "Okay, that's was a lie. I have _too_ much time on my hands so I can't really use that as an excuse. I'm just a messy person, get over it."

He chuckled. "It's fine. Believe me; I've probably seen messier places in my life."

"Well, being ninety years old I would be impressed if you haven't." She opened the door revealing to him her messy apartment. It seemed to be messier than when she left, although that might be because she normally didn't notice the mess, but she was now suddenly very aware of it. Bucky didn't seem to mind though as he followed in behind her casually. She gestured to the sofa which he happily took a seat on.

She went into the kitchen to pull out two plates and arrange the Indian into piles. She wasn't sure what he would like so took what she wanted onto her plate and called him into the kitchen. He appeared behind her seconds later, now haven taken off his jacket although strangely left his glove on his left hand.

"I don't know what you want?"

"Neither do I," Bucky half chuckled.

"I'll give you a little bit of everything then." She turned back around to the plates and began pilling the stuff on. When she was done she tucked the rest of the Indian away in the take-away plastic boxes and shoved them on the side for a later day. Probably tomorrow when she won't be bothered to cook.

"Here you are."

The table was clear for the most part. She made sure that was her spot of tidiness as it was where she did most of her work. She popped the plates on the table and took a seat, Bucky sitting across from her.

"You know the past week I've eaten more nice food than I have my whole life."

"You've still got time to catch up," Charley said raising her fork to her lips. Surprisingly it was still hot. "Maybe we'll get fish and chips next time."

"Now _that_ I have had before." He chuckled and then suddenly stopped eating, looking shocked. The change in his behaviour worried Charley. she sat up straighter looking at him in confusion.

"What?"

"I remember…" Bucky said hazily, "I remember eating fish and chips."

"You do?"

"Yeah…" Bucky trailed off. Charley saw tears glistening in his eyes. She hadn't expected this type of emotion. "At the beach. I can only remember a bit of it but I'm with some guy."

"Captain America?" Charley encouraged, excited about this new revolution in Bucky's memory. She wanted to cry over the fact Bucky was finding so much comfort in such a small memory.

"Maybe," Bucky shrugged. "He's small and skinny so I don't think so."

"Pre-serum Steve," Charley said offhandedly, a little embarrassed by how much she knew on Captain America. She wouldn't exactly call herself a fangirl of him but he was definitely an idol who she memorised every note of in her history classes.

Who was she kidding? She was totally a fangirl of Captain America. Who wasn't now that he had come out from under the ice?

"He was skinny before he had the serum injected into him."

"Huh, you'd have thought I'd have remembered my supposed best friend becoming a super soldier and changing shape." Bucky's smile at the revolution in his memory vanished and replaced by a sad bitter one. Charley let out a breath of air bringing a hand across the table and putting her hand over his metal one.

"You're making progress, you remembered something," Charley added positively. "It means what Hydra did to you isn't permanent but can be undone. You can remember." Bucky still didn't look convinced; she lightly squeezed his arm wondering if he even felt with his metal arm. It seemed he did when the metal arm became less rigid, his fingers relaxing into her grip. "I'll help you. There's got to be some technique that helps you remember." There were people who had suffered brain damage that managed to get their memories back, maybe Bucky could do that too.

She expected Bucky to fight her words but he wrapped his metal hand on top of her breathing out two words. "Thank-you."

 **A/N I haven't even read this chapter through. I wanted to update before school tomorrow so i'm sorry if there's any mistakes. Thank you to everyone who had reviewed/followed and Favorited. it means a lot.** _(Edited, you're welcome, Kels.)_


	4. Stir Fry

**Chapter 4**

The pair continued like this for the next few weeks. Every day at about five Bucky would come over for dinner. Charley had started preparing healthier meals as for one, she was sure she was going to die of a heart attack if she continued and two her purse was slowly getting emptier and emptier.

Rather than knocking on the front door, he would come through the fire-escape window and even though she knew he could probably get through the window without making a sound, he always knocked with his metal arm to notify her he was there. She would run out to him, still half cooking a meal and when he came inside the two would finish making the meal together as Charley taught him about modern day cooking.

The two would spent the rest of the night in front of the TV. Charley thought it was a good idea for Bucky to become associated with the modern day world, like television and movies.

Charley found herself confiding in the Winter Soldier as well, feeling she owe him her trust after he gave her his. She reckoned he knew more about her now than her own parents did.

"How long have you been in America?" Bucky asked over a lasagne, obviously having picked up on her English accent. To Charley her accent never seemed noticeable until someone picked up on it.

"A year." She stuffed a particularly large bit in her mouth, dropping most of it back down onto her plate. Bucky tried not to laugh when he saw red sauce stain her white blouse. "Shit."

"Why did you leave?"

"Boredom." She shrugged, going to reach for a napkin, but Bucky had already gone up to go get her one. "Thanks." She smiled taking the napkin from him, relishing in the small grin her sent her back as he sat back down and tucked into his lasagne. He hadn't eaten much of it and was eating it a lot slower than he was usually, she suspected he wasn't a fan of her lasagne. "I felt like doing something spontaneous for once and what's more spontaneous than upping and leaving to go to another country."

"Are you preferring it here?"

"Not much difference if I'm honest," Charley sighed, "I thought it would be some great adventure or whatever coming to another country, turns out I've just been working my arse off every day just to pay the next rent."

Bucky placed his knife and fork on either side of his plate and looked at her sincerely. "I'm sorry."

She wasn't sure why he was sorry. Sure, her life was kind of boring but it was nothing in comparison to what he had been through, which was literally hell. He shouldn't be feeling any sympathy for her, but instead be rolling his eyes at how pathetic she sounded.

"It's no big deal. I'm glad I came, I wouldn't have met you otherwise." She felt her face heat up as she realized the implications of this statement. Bucky who had gone in for another small mouthful of lasagne had dropped his fork again just to stare at her.

"Me?"

"Yeah." Charley cleared her throat hating how self-conscious she was of own voice now. "Believe it or not but you're probably the best thing that's happened to me since getting here."

"Sometimes I think you forget who I really am." Bucky shook his head. He pushed his plate away as if suddenly turned off the idea of food.

"I don't think I ever could," Charley mumbled light-heartedly. "I don't know if anyone's told you but it's kind of hard to forget someone who breaks into your store in the middle of the night requesting clothes." She only chuckled harder when Bucky laughed along with her.

That night, Bucky cleaned up the dishes (despite Charley's insistence that the dishwasher does that just fine) whilst Charley went to change into her pajamas after spilling sauce down her clothes. When she came out from her bedroom Bucky was pulling on his jacket and gloves.

"It's only eight," Charley sighed realizing he was planning on leaving. "You know, you don't have to go. You _can_ stay here if you want. You spend most of your evenings here anyway." She still didn't know where he went when he wasn't with her. She doubted he had a place of his own to go to at night.

Bucky looked up coldly. "You know it wouldn't be safe."

"Only because you're convinced it won't be," Charley wasn't afraid to speak the truth to him, Bucky glared her harder but turned to face the fire escape window. She had comes to terms with the idea knowing he would never accept her offer to live with her. Bucky was full of trust issues, and despite all of his attempts to trust her she knew there was something warning him against her. With Hydra still out there she was sure he would never find peace and although the news warnings looking for the winter solider had died down now it settled him no less.

Before he left he turned around one more time.

"For what it's worth," he began slowly as if battling inside on whether to continue or not. He decided to and Charley was glad he did, as he said, "You're the only good thing that's happened to me since all of this started."

Before Charley could find the words to reply he had left through the window to the fire escape, shutting it promptly behind him.

 _*~It started with Pizza ~*_

Bucky didn't come the next night. It had reached seven before Charley gave up watching the fire escape window. She had already given in and began eating the stir fry she had cooked up for the two of them, but left some on the side in case Bucky decided to show up.

It was the first time he hadn't come for three weeks and Charley couldn't ignore the feeling of worry nagging at her.

She used her phone to start searching up news stories that had happened nearby, hoping she wouldn't find anything that would suggest Hydra had found him. There were a few robberies of which she doubted Bucky was part off. There was one that caught her eye however.

There was an article about a murder that had happened just a few roads down. The article was only three hours old. Charley had never heard of a murder happening in this neighbourhood, it usually was so quiet and she couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a coincidence.

She didn't know what to do. Bucky could be in danger but what help would she be? She concluded that if Bucky really was in danger he could handle it, he practically had the same skills as Captain America himself. He could handle it.

Anyhow, she still needed to know he was alright. She grabbed her keys at coat and ran down to her car. The street was far from hers but she could tell from three blocks down that there had been something bad that had happened. Cop cars were lined up down the street. She had to pull to a stop when a police banner had been pulled up around a house. One thing that caught Charley's eye was the body lying down on the road, a white blanket thrown a top of it. Her stomach dropped when she wondered who could possibly be under the blanket, refusing to believe it was Bucky.

"What's happened?" She jumped out of her car and almost ran over to a police officer who stopped her in her tracks. Not that she had planned on running into the house, what would she even do if she did?

"I need you to remove yourself from this area madam, there's been a murder."

"Who?" She begun but the cop was already moving her away. There was a group of people lined out a few metres away, he took her over to them and told her to stay put.

Beside her a women was being questioned.

"I saw the Winter Soldier. I saw him," Charley picked up, suddenly curious. "Everyone's been telling me about the metal armed guy and I saw him tonight, he killed the guy."

"Are you sure?" The officer asked writing something in his notepad looking deeply concerned. Charley ran a hand through her hair and hurried back to her car. Bucky had been here then. Was he alright? Was he hurt? What had happened? Why had he killed the man?

She wasn't concentrating as she drove her way home, letting muscle memory take over as she mulled over the recent events. She wondered where he was now and if she would be able to find him. She doubted it. If he didn't want to be found, Charley would have no luck.

Feeling a heavy weight she walked up to her apartment and almost screamed when she opened her apartment door and saw Bucky.

He was sprawled across her sofa, his metal arm covered with his jacket and glove and it dangled over the side, almost touching the floor. She noticed a nasty red gash slashed across his forehead and his jacket and jeans now covered in blood.

She let out a breath of air with the relief of knowing he was at least safe.

She rushed over to him, knocking into her table as she went, knocking over a photo frame. The clatter caused Bucky to sit up straight, his hand going for his side where usually his gun would be. His eyes squinted in the dark room.

"I'm sorry, it' just me," Charley cringed waving her hand so that Bucky would see her movement in the darkness. Déjà vu hit her as she remembered the similar situation of when they first met, in the compete darkness afraid he was going to attack her. This time, however, his eyes saw her immediately and he visibly relaxed, slumping down back into the sofa.

Charley picked up the fallen photo frame, a picture of her and her cat Mabel. Feeling it was safe to move nearer, she took a seat next to him.

"I was thinking you weren't going to come tonight."

Bucky budged up so Charley had room to sit down. As he did so he winced, his metal arm went to clutch his side, "Yeah, I got distracted."

"You don't say," Charley reached out to his cheek. Carefully, she grazed a thumb over the cut. It was dry blood now and it didn't seem to hurt him much. "So, what was it that happened to distract you from me? Because I can't think of a lot of things that would distract someone from _me._ " She added lightly to show him she wasn't being serious, if he didn't want to tell her he didn't have too. But she would surely appreciate it.

"It doesn't matter now, I dealt with it." Bucky replied his voice lowering warning Charley she was treading on a thin line.

"I went to the house down the road. There were police lined up down the street," Charley told him, watching him carefully to test his reaction. "I was worried for a second it had been you that had been killed."

"It would take more than a single Hydra agent to kill me."

"Hydra?" Charley's eyes widened. "It was Hydra. Did they found you?"

"That's why I didn't come here straight away, they were following me. I don't know how they found me but they did." Bucky spoke quickly and Charley had to listen hard to keep up with what he was saying. "Luckily there was only one of them when they approached me but I think there was more. I didn't know where else to go, I don't want to put you in danger but I have no one else." The more words he spoke the faster he said them until he turned to her, tears glistening in his eyes. "I can't go back there, Charley. They'll turn me back into a killing machine."

"Hey," Charley reached out for his metal hand and wrapped it in her own real one. "They're not going to get you. Half the country is still trying to take down what's left of Hydra and they only managed to send one man after you, it shows they're limited on men."

"I didn't want to kill him," Bucky ran his other hand threw his mess of hair. She was surprised they didn't get tangled in it. "I just reacted."

"It was self-defence," Charley muttered but Bucky wasn't listening. He had let go off her hand and was clenching his fist up. "Bucky? Bucky? Listen, Buck-"

"I'm scared of what they'll do to me, Charley." Bucky admitted, defeated. Charley grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. At first she didn't feel the hug being returned and she wondered if he even knew what a hug was when finally she felt his hands wrap around her back tightly as if he was clinging onto her for dear life.

"Here's what we're going to do," Charley whispered into his ear. "I'm going to get a cloth to clean your wounds. I've got some stir fry still left, it might still be warm and then we're going to watch a movie, maybe we'll watch the Wizard Of Oz or something, you might recognize that." She pulled away. "Sound good?" She asked him looking him in the eye.

He nodded suddenly looking down at his boots with interest.

Charley got up, suddenly missing the comfort she had found in the hug, and went into the kitchen. She started by going for the left over stir fry and scooping it onto a plate. It wasn't warm but it wasn't cold either, she was sure Bucky wouldn't mind.

On the way from the kitchen the dampened a wet cloth and brought it in with her. When she got back though she was surprised to find Bucky in the same position she had found him when she had walked in on him earlier; Slumped over the couch fast asleep. His mouth was slightly hanging open as he let out a soft snore. He looked so innocent, as if the last seventy years hadn't happened. It was a nice and rare sight of him. She almost wanted to take a picture to keep it forever, but that probably went over the line of creepy, she was sure Bucky wouldn't appreciate that. She chuckled to herself envisioning her putting it up on twitter or something with the line 'is this who the world is after? He looks so cute'.

She placed the plate on the coffee table in front of you, careful as not to make a sound although by this point she was sure Bucky was so exhausted he wouldn't wake for anything. She then took her own place on the armchair beside the sofa and settled down for the night. She curled her knees up to her chest and rested her head against them, closing her eyes and feeling her cat jump up on the chair beside her and nestle herself between the crook of her legs.


	5. Hot Chocolate

Charley felt something tickling her leg. She moved to try and get away from the tingle but it only followed her. She rested her eyes for a few minutes before finally peeling them open. She looked down at the spot below her knee and saw her cut nuzzling up against her. For a moment her eyes had to adjust to the room as she wondered why she was in here, she had never fallen asleep for a whole night in her living room since moving in here, before her eyes caught onto Bucky's still sleeping form on the sofa next to her.

At first she didn't get up and continued to stare at him, caught up in how peaceful he looked. She wouldn't mind waking up to that face every day. She most definitely couldn't say he _wasn't_ hot. Perhaps, he could trim down the hair a little so you could see his face better, but she still liked it.

Charley shook her head to pull herself out of her weird trance, remembering it was an odd thing to stare at a sleeping man.

"Breakfast," Charley sighed, trying to distract herself from the man before her. She had to use both arms to pull herself from out of the chair, her legs having gone dead from sitting in such an awkward positon. Her movement made her cat jump up and go over to Bucky on the sofa. He had changed positions in the night and was now sleeping on his front. His mouth slightly hanging open with his hand dropping over the side of the sofa sloppily. Mabel curled up in a ball beside his hand.

On her way to the kitchen Charley picked up her phone and saw it was almost nine, meaning she had to be at work in an hour's time.

She groaned, really not wanting to go to work today. She usually had Bucky coming round in the evenings to look forward to, but now with Bucky in her apartment she wanted to spend the day with him. Perhaps the two could watch a film together.

Would it be terrible of her to call in sick at work?

No, she _really_ needed the money. She couldn't do that.

She opened up a new loaf of bread, grabbed two slices, put them in the toaster and popped the timer down.

"Ugh, I do not want to do today," Charley groaned. She had a six hour shift today meaning she wouldn't be back at home until four and that was if traffic didn't suck. Most of the damage from the helicarrier crash had been resolved. There was no longer any debris randomly lying in the streets of DC.

Two minutes later the toast popped out and she coated it with butter and marmite. One of the things she missed most about England was how easy it was to buy the yeast extract spread there, as opposed to the trouble she had to go through to get some in America. She was about to take a bite of the toast when Mabel meowed in delight. Charley frowned at the sound. Her cat was hardly ever happy about anything and whenever she _was_ it was a rare sight to see.

"Mabel?" Charley called from the kitchen only to peer around the door frame and see Bucky sitting up and kneeling over the chair stroking her cat. Mabel didn't usually like being petted, or even be in the presence of another human being, but apparently Bucky was another matter. Charley smiled when Bucky looked up, his face blazing red at having been caught in this adorable position.

"Sorry, she was nuzzling my hand, I-"

"Bucky, you don't have to apologize for stroking my cat," Charley said with the satisfying sound of the soft crunch as she bit into her toast. "She doesn't normally like human beings, I'm the only one she actually likes. It appears now I have competition." She grinned when Bucky went back to stroking Mabel who moved closer into his touch. "Do you want breakfast?" She asked as she returned to the kitchen to clear up the mess of crumbs she had just made.

"No," Bucky said, appearing in her kitchen doorway now holding her cat in his arm. "She kind of jumped up at me," he explained sheepishly. Mabel jumped from him onto the kitchen table. "I should probably leave. Sorry for sleeping on your couch."

"You were tired, you needed it and anyway you're here pretty much most evenings. Might as well sleep over," Charley chuckled, placing the crumbs in the bin, when an idea hit her. She stood up straight and whirled around to Bucky. "Where are you living at the moment?"

Bucky looked down, suddenly shuffling his feet. "I'm just moving from building to building. Anything that looks abandoned."

Charley felt her heart fall at Bucky's words. She had at least expected him to have a single place to go to at night, maybe with a bed. Although she supposed that wasn't realistic for the lifestyle he had; constantly on the run.

"Well I have a sofa you can sleep on," Charley offered with an expectant smile. "If you want…" She wasn't surprised when Bucky shook his head.

"No, no I can't do that."

"Why not?" Charley shrugged. Although realistically she knew why. He was an ex-assassin who was on the run. She wasn't even quite sure what she was doing herself by offering for him to live with her. But she trusted him, she wanted to help him and he was so much better company than her cat was.

"Charley," He begun stepping forward as if trying to explain himself. "I am dangerous. I have done terrible things, for so many years. Half the country is after me. _Hydra_ is still after me. I would only put you in danger, if they find out I'm living with you then they would only come after you. Why are you not getting that?"

Charley glared ahead at him, for some reason anger bubbling through her at his statement. "Hey," she snapped, surprising herself by the irritation flowing through her voice. "You don't get to tell me if I would be put in danger or not. That's up for me to decide. This isn't some stupid movie where you get to _protect_ the girl." She wasn't sure where she was going with this, she was going to lead on to say 'I can protect myself' but knew that was a straight out obvious lie. She could barely walk in a straight line without falling over her own feet let alone take on an evil organisation of henchmen single-handedly. "I just want to help out a friend who seems to be in desperate need of help. I'm worried about you, _why are you not getting that_?" Bucky opened his mouth to argue his case more but Charley beat him too it. "I'm not saying come live with me, all I'm saying is if you ever feel like _not_ sleeping on some abandoned building floor – which I don't know why you would – then there's a sofa here available for you if you want it. And, let's face it… Hydra won't be looking for you living in such a normal place like this."

Bucky seemed lost for words but slowly he nodded. "I guess you got a point."

"Something you should know about me is that I'm very persuasive in arguments." Charley wagged a playful finger at him, glad the tension in the room had dispersed immediately after Bucky responded. "So, does that mean you're in?"

Bucky's jaw tightened and Charley knew this meant he was considering it. In his mind she could practically see him weighing up the positives and negatives.

"On one condition," Bucky said. "You tell no one about me being here, not even your closest friend."

Charley nodded. There wasn't really anyone here she could tell. All of her close friends were still back in England and who did they care who she was living with. Bucky had now become the closest thing to a friend since moving to America a year ago. She wasn't even quite sure how that had happened.

Her eyes accidentally glided over the kitchen clock and she almost jumped out of her skin when she saw what the time was. She only had fifteen minutes until she had to be at work and it was a twenty minute drive.

"Shit," Charley swore, moving past Bucky to grab her car keys. His fast reflexes moved him swiftly out of Charley's way.

"What?"

"I'm late for work." She snatched up her keys and put them in her pocket. There wasn't any time to do anything else; she would have to get dressed in the store dressing rooms as for cleaning her teeth she would just make sure not to breathe in any customer's faces (or maybe she'd do it to rude customers, maybe they wouldn't return again).

Scurrying out of the door she picked up her shoes along the way.

"How messy is my hair?" Charley asked, opening her apartment door.

Bucky looked her up and down, his lips thinning when he saw her hair as if he was trying to stop himself laughing. After a few seconds he cleared his throat, saying a quick "fine."

With her hand still on the door knob she glared at him. "Is it really because I'm sensing you're lying to me."

"It's kind of a bit messy," Bucky winced, hiding his face behind his metal hand which Charley assumed was to hide his laughter.

"How bad?" She sighed, rushing over to the living room mirror. As she ran towards it he ran a hand through her hair and found herself stuck in the strands. "Shit," she mumbled as she saw her reflection. She looked like a disaster. A disaster that had been pulled through a hedge multiple times.

"I wasn't going to say anything because you seemed to be in a rush."

"Thanks for that." Charley rolled her eyes, running to grab a brush from her bedroom. "I'll have to brush my hair when I hit some traffic lights in the car."

Before she managed to close the door Bucky asked her, "What time will you be back?"

"At around three till four depending on if I finish my work quickly. Don't worry, I'll try to, I know you'll miss me too much," She added with a wink which Bucky only scoffed at.

She ran out of the building feeling bad about leaving Bucky behind for the day. She wasn't sure whether he would stay in the apartment or not. She hoped he did. She liked the idea of coming home to find him still there. She knew she would be worrying about him all day on whether or not another stupid Hydra agent had found his whereabouts again.

To top it off she didn't run into a single red traffic light along the way and her hair was still a mess when going into work.

As soon as Charley exited one of the changing rooms now fully in uniform, Aiden came bustling over to her his arms crossed and a deep frown on his face which caused both his eyebrows to connect to one another.

"What time do you call this again?"

"Sorry, I was distracted with something." _yeah, an ex-assassin_. She was sure if she told him that he would leave her alone.

"I've given you multiple warnings about lateness," Aiden said in a deep voice, trying to sound threatening.

Charley didn't respond, knowing he would only respond with something equally as harsh such as; you're fired.

In her defense, she hadn't been late to work for almost an entire week. That was almost a record. Aiden should be praising her.

"Just get on with your work but I expect you to take the late shift tonight."

Charley groaned, knowing her shift would be last eight hours now instead of her contracted six. There wasn't much she could do about it without her getting fired for it. Aiden was her boss and _technically_ she had to listen to what he said.

Her day continued on with its usual boring self. At least now she had the excitement of knowing Bucky was at the apartment after she finished work. She was thinking of things they could do together. She wanted to get him caught up on the century, perhaps then he'd have a chance at getting out in the world himself and maybe find a job of his own (perhaps after the whole Winter Soldier thing has died down and he wasn't a wanted man).

As she worked she constructed a list of movies that he should watch. She was thinking perhaps she would have a Harry Potter marathon with him; it had been a while since she had watched those films and she was sure Bucky would enjoy them.

As five o'clock drew nearer Charley found herself looking up at the store clock waiting for the minutes to go by. Each second felt like forever.

She was busy folding jeans when someone cleared her throat next to her. She turned, expecting to find a rude customer that thought it appropriate to cough to gain her attention when a simple 'excuse me' would suffice.

Instead, she saw Bucky.

She almost squealed in shock. Her heart doing a somersault in her chest. He was dressed in his thick jacket, and glove on both hands despite the heat. However, he had a new addition to his wardrobe. A blue baseball cap.

Charley recognized the cap. It was one of her own that she had stuffed in a draw in the living room having no use for a baseball cap. It wasn't her style. She didn't even know why she had it. But it suited Bucky well, hiding his face well enough to not guess it was him but not enough for Charley to still recognize him.

"Bucky?" Charley whispered, wanting to make sure it was definitely him and not some stranger that looked like him. In response, he sent her a sideways glance. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not glad to see you or anything."

"It's almost five," Bucky explained. "I got worried because you said you'd be back by four. I thought maybe Hydra-"

"Hydra doesn't have me," Charley said softly placing a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. She changed her eye sight to land on Aiden himself and sent a glare across the room "Maybe that evil _dick_ tator does, but not Hydra."

"Who's he?" Bucky frowned at the spite in Charley's words.

"My boss. He's the reason I'm late getting home," she said. "I wouldn't be here if he didn't put me down for a later shift. I'm sorry, I should be done soon. I just need to finish this table and then we can leave… that is, if you don't mind waiting for me."

Bucky shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."

She smiled and went back to folding jeans; she was surprised to find Bucky pretending to browse at clothes whilst she finished off. She tried hard to fold the clothes as quickly as possible. Now that Bucky was here she had an even bigger motivation to get the hell out of there.

She finished the jeans off by throwing the last one on top of the pile, her hand aching from folding so much. She signed out and found Bucky still looking at the same shirt as he had been before. His back was turned to her and she decided to creep up behind him a smirk folding out onto her face.

"Boo!" She jumped. Bucky flung around, dropping the shirt he was holding and Charley felt his metal arm hit her in the side. It wasn't as much of an impact as it could have been, but the wind was definitely knocked out of her. "Right, rule one… don't sneak up on a metal armed assassin," she said in a low voice so no one could hear her.

"Sorry, Charley," Bucky apologized. "I should have realized it would be you, I just reacted."

"No, no," Charley shook her head standing up straight. "I should have realized that wouldn't be a good thing to do." Charley patted his left shoulder. "That _can_ hurt." She laughed, rubbing her side. Bucky opened his mouth to presumably apologize again. "Don't even think about saying sorry again. I'm fine." She smiled satisfactorily when Bucky did as she said. "Now, let's go. I was thinking we could stop at the coffee shop on the way to my car if you don't mind. I'm thirsty."

Bucky shrugged, his right hand pulling his cap down lower over his face as they exited the store.

"I like that hat by the way," Charley conversed. It looked so much better on him than it ever did her. "It suits you."

"I didn't want to be noticed, it was the only thing I could find."

"Well I like it," she said as she attempted to cross the traffic driven street. Her hand was suddenly jolted and she was pulled back. The next second a car flashed by her, right where she had been stood two seconds previously. Breathing heavily, Charley looked down at her hand and saw a gloved hand enclosing it.

Bucky let go almost instantly.

"Wow, okay, thanks," Charley finally breathed. "I literally could have died then if that wasn't for you."

Bucky shrugged. "I'm sure you would have been fine."

"Yes because making contact with a car is always a sign that you're fine," Charley chuckled, this time, making sure the road was safe to cross before going.

The two entered the coffee shop. At this time of day it was always quite crowded so Bucky slipped in well, hiding behind Charley who went up to the counter.

"What can I do for you?" The employer asked with a smile that seemed a little too forced.

"Can I get a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream. Buck? What do you want?" She turned to face him. He looked a little off put by the even shorter version of his name but slowly shrugged. "Whatever you're having."

"Make that two," Charley said to the cashier, pulling out her purse.

"You don't have to keep paying for stuff," Bucky told her as she handed over a few notes.

"It's alright. I like helping you," she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The two waited in silence for their drinks to be poured. "I was thinking…" Charley began uncertainly. She wasn't sure how Bucky would react. "You should get a phone."

"A phone?" Bucky raised his eyebrows. "Why would I need one?"

"To communicate with people, _obviously._ "

"And who would I want to call and who would want to call me?"

"Me?" Charley grinned as she accepted the two cups of hot chocolate for them. She handed one of them to Bucky. "I was just thinking that I worry about you when I don't know where you are…" She inwardly cringed at how clingy she was sounding. It wasn't that she wanted to know where he was all the time, she just liked to reassure herself that he was fine. "I just like to know you're safe and if you ever need me I'm just a phone call away, and vice versa."

Bucky seemed to consider it. "Would Hydra be able to track it?"

Charley hadn't considered this. "I mean they _probably_ could, but we'll put the phone in my name. They won't suspect it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Charley smiled at how nervous Bucky sounded at the simple idea of getting a mobile phone for himself. "You don't even have to use it, it would just settle my mind knowing that you've not been kidnapped by Hydra if you're not around."

"If it'll stop you worrying I will." Bucky nodded. "I just don't see myself using it much otherwise."

"Well I don't know…" Charley took a sip of her drink but swallowed too much at once of the hot liquid and felt her throat burn. "There are fun games you can play on it. Phones are literally essential items; I think I would die without my phone as a trusty companion."

"This is disgusting," Bucky held up the drink with distaste. "I think I've had this before though."

"You don't like hot chocolate!" Charley almost chocked on her drink at this revelation about Bucky. "That's it… you no longer can move in."

Bucky chuckled, putting the hot chocolate cup on the coffee table in front of them with a childish scowl. "It's not nice, it's too sweet."

"You are _wrong._ " Charley shook her head in disbelief. "It's soothing."

"It's too hot."

"Wait for it to cool down then."

"Then it doesn't taste nice."

Charley snorted. "Next time I'll get you a cold drink. I guess they don't call you the Winter Soldier for nothing."

"Ha-ha, very funny."

"It was, wasn't it?" She cocked an eyebrow causing Bucky to laugh. His smile lighting up all the features of his face. It suited him better than the murder frown he had on his face 24/7. Perhaps she should tell him this, maybe he would smile more often. Although she doubted the Winter Soldier cared what he looked like.

He carried on laughing for a few more seconds before it was wiped cleanly off his face all of a sudden, his eyes catching something.

Charley followed his eye line and found him looking at the café TV screen where a news report was being shown. Charley recognized the scene on the screen. It was of the street from yesterday, where a dead body had been found lying on the road. She cringed when she saw cops lining the streets. A news reporter appeared on screen with a sad expression. The sound had been muted in the café but the headline 'the metal armed assassin strikes' was bold and white.

The light-hearted nature between them previously vanished.

"It's alright." Charley leant over to reach for his hand. He neither flinched or moved into her touch but just remained expressionless. "It was only self-defense."

"I thought the news on me had died down."

"It had for a while, but I guess last night made it all come back up." Charley frowned. "Look, you did nothing wrong. It was Hydra, they probably deserved it if they plan on taking you back and brainwashing you again. You don't deserve that and Hydra can go to hell if they think they're getting you back again."

She saw him gulp. "I guess you're right," he said quietly. "I can't lose my memories again though. I've come too far to forget it all now and if I go back I'll forget all about this." He gestured in between Charley. She smiled in response, a feeling of warmth spread around her chest at the idea of Bucky being worried about forgetting her. "Maybe living with you isn't a good idea."

"You _are_ staying at mine whether you like it or not." Charley added stubbornly, "I won't take no for an answer. Is that clear?"

Bucky nodded but pulled his cap down further still. "If you say so, ma'am."

 **A/N Thanks so much to all of the reviews/favourites/followers. It means so much to me, love them all :D**

 **Guest: I just had to listen to the song 'neon trees' and I realize why that would remind you of it, and now I'm going to be singing that with those lyrics. Haha. The songs actually pretty good, I like it. I might download it later.**

 **Lara Barnes: Thanks so much for the comment and I'm glad you like the fic so far and Charley. I hope you keep reading :D**


	6. Popcorn

On their way out of the coffee shop Charley placed her empty hot chocolate cup in the bin. Bucky held the door open for her letting her out first.

"I was thinking of things we could do," Charley said stuffing her hands in her pockets, the coffee shop door snapping shut behind them. It had gotten much colder from when they went into the store. Charley almost went back inside to buy another hot chocolate to warm herself up.

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked.

"I mean when we get back to the apartment," Charley explained. "You need to get caught up on the decade right? So what's a better way to do that than watching some pop culture films?"

"That sounds good." Bucky nodded enthusiastically. "I haven't watched a film in ages."

This brought another question to Charley's attention that she really wanted to ask him. She wondered if the last time he watched a film was in 1944. "What exactly _did_ you do in your spare time as the Winter Soldier? Did Hydra even give you any time off to do your own stuff?" At the mention of the Winter Soldier, Charley saw Bucky visibly wince and she realized she may have made mistake in asking. "You don't have to reply," she quickly said. "I was just curious."

"No, no it's alright," Bucky mumbled. Charley could barely hear him over the busy road beside them as cars rolled along their engines roaring. It was getting late and the beams of car headlights kept hitting the two of them full in the face. "I don't remember much of it."

"Really-" Charley raised an eyebrow surprised. "Why not?"

"They would wipe me. I couldn't even tell you most the people who _I_ killed," Bucky admitted, training his eyes to the ground with misery. "And for the most part I was in the cryofreeze." Charley opened her mouth to question him about what a cryofreeze was but Bucky was already prepared to answer. "I was frozen for most of the past seventy years, whenever I wasn't doing missions I would be put back inside. It got me out of the way and stopped me aging." He swallowed. "It was no big deal though, the cryofreeze was the best part of it all. I was never hurting anyone."

"I had no idea…" Charley trailed off, the overpowering need to cry suddenly pricked her eyes. Bucky had been through so much over the last seventy years. Unimaginable things. Charley doubted any sane human would be able to deal with a year of this torture, let alone seventy. Slowly, she moved her hands and slid into his metal one. She wondered for a moment if he could even feel her hand in his with his arm being metal, however, he surprised her when his hand enclosed around hers. It wasn't tight enough to squish her fingers in his metal ones, she could still easily slip her hand in and out again but it was tight enough to know he was clutching onto her.

"I was thinking we could watch Harry Potter," Charley said awkwardly in an attempt to get rid of the tension filling the air. Bucky nodded his head once telling her he was up for it. "It's about a boy wizard. It's great, unless you want to watch something else. Maybe something you recognize like The Wizard of Oz."

"Wizard of what?"

"Wizard of Oz." Bucky still looked confused by the name so Charley shook her head, brushing it aside.

"Don't worry about; it's a film that came out before the war."

"Oh."

"Maybe we'll watch it to try and jog your memory."

"Yeah… that's a good idea."

Charley bumped his shoulder, which probably hurt her more than it did him. "Hey, don't get disheartened by the fact you can't remember. This kind of stuff takes time."

They continued down the street in silence, Charley became very aware of their connected hands. They were close to her car but Charley decided if they were going to do a movie night they were going to do it properly. Her car was in sight and Bucky was already walking to it but instead Charley grabbed his hand and pulled him in a different direction.

"We're heading to the store first," she answered before Bucky could question. "We're getting popcorn." She grinned childishly. "I don't have any indoors. I don't do many movie nights so… I've got to go get some. Now are you more of a sweet or salt kind of guy because I'm more of a sweet kind'a person. You might not remember, that's cool I'll buy both just to make sure, we'll see-"

"I like salt," Bucky said, putting a stop to Charley's rambling. His lips twitched up into a smile and Charley felt a warmth wrap around her heart in pride at the small memory that Bucky seemed to remember.

"Firstly, you don't like hot chocolate and _now_ you like salt popcorn. Will we ever agree?" Charley tutted playfully.

They went into the grocery store. Charley began moving between aisles filling her basket with snacks for the evenings, with every aisle she went down she found something to put into the basket and she was soon regretting not just heading straight for the popcorn section.

Bucky offered to carry the basket around as Charley looked as if she was about to kneel over from the weight of it. "I probably should have gotten a trolley." She chuckled, but continued to hold it until she actually did trip over it.

Bucky swooped down to collect it from her. "Metal arm remember, It feels like a feather."

"Show off," Charley muttered, reaching up on tip toes to pick out a bottle of soda. Before she could get it, Bucky reached up with his other hand and beat her to it with no stretching involved, he pushed aside a few of the snacks inside the basket and fitted it in. "Now you're just bragging."

Bucky smiled lightly. "Is this it?" He gestured with his head at the basket. "This is a lot."

"I get hungry when watching films." Charley almost scoffed at herself. Who was she kidding, she was hungry _all_ the time. "Anyway I've not eaten anything all day."

The final aisle they went down was the popcorn one, Charley bought a mix of salt and sweet and popped it in the basket, which looked as if it was about to break from how much weight it was holding, but to Bucky it seemed to weigh nothing. His metal hand was down at his side and wasn't strained at all from the weight.

Charley frowned. "Do you even feel the weight if you swap hands?" Bucky did just that and took the basket with his right instead of his left. "Still nothing?"

Bucky shook his head. "Still feels light."

"I guess I'm just weak." Charley sulked. "I think we've got it all before I go and buy and anything else. Do you want anything?"

"Do you think we can get pizza again?"

If possible, Charley's smile grew wider. "That is the _best_ idea." She ran past Bucky and skidded down the aisles running to the pizza sections and picking up a margarita and a pepperoni. "Why did I not think of pizza?" she asked herself when Bucky caught up with her easily as he appeared at the end of the aisle.

"You're quite a fast runner," Bucky said as Charley met him half way and chucking the pizzas into the basket.

"If only I was fit enough to actually make use of that speed."

"Maybe we can go out for morning run together. You've helped me and maybe I can help you," Bucky suggested and Charley burst out laughing.

"Do be serious, I think I would rather sit on a bench and watch you run." Her face flamed red at the notion, suddenly finding herself looking at his chest and imagining him in tight fitting gym clothes. Bucky, thankfully, didn't seem to realize her sudden shyness and nodded once and turned towards the direction of the cashier. Charley mouthed a quick "shit" before following, feeling the heat on her face.

She followed him and bought their products. It came to a shocking $42 which Charley almost choked on. She was sure she hadn't picked up _that_ much. Only a few bars of candy and the pizzas, the popcorn, the drinks, a few other bits and bobs that she could snack on. Perhaps she really did go over the top, but she was sure it'd be worth it, it was a Harry Potter move night for crying out loud!

She handed the money over with only mild complaining and the two exited the store, Bucky still holding the shopping.

"Your arm's quite useful for these kind of situations." She gestured to the arm he was holding the shopping in. "Although, I feel kind of lazy. You sure you don't want me to hold anything?"

"I can handle it." He weighed the bag in his hand. "It's light if anything."

"Ugh, you make me feel completely weak." Charley unlocked her car and got in the front seat, gesturing for Bucky to just throw the bag in the back. He then took the passenger seat next to her.

"I have a metal arm, Charley. You're not weak." He frowned at her suggestion. She gave him a small encouraged smile and put her foot down on the peddle, taking the only route she ever took; her apartment. When she decided to go to DC she had expected so much of her life, to travel, see the world - only to discover that travelling was expensive and so was living. She was barely able to keep her apartment. In all honesty she wasn't sure if she could afford for Bucky to live with her. The snacks today had emptied her purse, which was meant to last her at least three days. She didn't want Bucky to feel bad (which she knew he would) so she remained quiet.

"Did you move over to America alone?" Bucky asked her suddenly, catching her off guard. She hadn't expected him to ask _her_ questions when she had no story to tell him. She was dull in comparison to everything he'd seen. Although, she supposed from his perspective that was probably better.

"Yeah," Charley replied as she drove, stopping at a red light. "My parents and friends are still in England." She frowned. "I mean I do have friends here but none of them as close as the ones in England. Sorry I didn't mean to sound so depressing then _. I do have friends._ " Well, she kind of did. She had friends at work. She might not hang out with them outside of work hours but she still considered them friends and her next-door neighbours seemed like lovely people... "Okay, in all honesty you've probably the first friend I've made since coming to America." She wasn't really sure what that said about her.

Bucky nodded. "If it helps you're the first friend I've made in seventy years from what I can remember."

Charley grinned. "Okay, you win." A thought struck her. "What about Steve, as in Captain America?"

"I wouldn't really call him a friend, I hardly know him." She heard his voice crack as she remained focused on the road of ahead of her.

"Will you ever go find him?"

"I don't know. He's a stranger to me."

"But you feel like you know him?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bucky nod immediately. "I've got glimpses of memories of him, it's weird. It's like I feel like I know him but I know nothing about him. I don't know how to describe it."

"I imagine he can help you," Charley suggested. "He's been under the ice for seventy years. If anyone understands about settling down into a new century it would be him and I think you can trust him. I mean I know I don't know the guy, but it's Captain America. He can't exactly be bad."

"Like I am."

"No, not like you," Charley scolded. "You're not bad Bucky; you're just as much a victim of Hydra than any of their targets. From the words of Harry potter; _You're a very good person who bad things have happened too._ "

"I don't know if I can trust him. It's difficult."

"If you think like that you'll never trust anyone."

"I suppose," Bucky acknowledged. "But I trust you, don't I?"

"I'm _am_ very trust-worthy person though," Charley said sarcastically. "I think we should go to the Smithsonian," she added as an after thought. "They have this whole exhibition on Captain America, with loads of information on him. You're in there too, I remember going there a few months back. It might help you remember stuff before Hydra."

"You would do that?"

"Yeah," Charley replied as if it was obvious. "It's only down the road and I've been planning on going back again anyway." She'd been meaning to go and visit the museum again soon, what better excuse to go than to help Captain America's best friend remember.

"Alright, we'll go."

The rest of the journey consisted of Charley trying to explain Harry Potter to him. He seemed to be getting it until Charley started bashing out words such as 'muggle' and 'Hogwarts' as if expecting him to understand what they meant. She didn't question him on it, but from the confusion on his face she could tell he was completely lost.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

That night Charley shoved the two pizzas in the oven before setting up the DVD. Bucky was already sitting on the couch, Mabel sitting by his lap, fast asleep. She shook her head in disbelief and betrayal. Her cat only usually ever slept beside her.

"Traitor," she scoffed at her cat earning a chuckle from Bucky. She was glad to see he had taken his jacket and gloves off, leaving most of his metal arm exposed.

Charley took a packet of salted popcorn from one of the bags of shopping and chucked it at Bucky. Despite him being turned completely away from her, he managed to catch it with his right arm without even flinching. She returned to the bag and pulled her own sweet popcorn out and took a seat next to Bucky on the couch on his left whilst her cat was on his right.

"I haven't watched these films in ages." Charley chucked a few pieces of popcorn up into the air and gave a proud grin when she managed to catch them with her mouth. "I should compete in the Olympics with this. You try."

Bucky accepted the challenge and missed by a mile, the popcorn landing on Mabel's back, causing her to jump up and climb off the sofa. He looked at Charley sheepishly but tried again. Failing, he missed his mouth _again_. For a super soldier he was apparently crap at catching popcorn in his mouth as he threw it up and the pieces rolled down his chin.

"You're terrible," Charley giggled.

"I guess I'll stay away from Olympic popcorn throwing then."

"Good idea," Charley picked up the remote and pressed play, the Hogwarts theme tune soon began playing.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

Half an hour later Bucky was fully engrossed in the film. A plate of pizza on his lap that was left forgotten as his attention remained on the TV screen. It was way past ten o'clock now and Charley had gone and gotten blankets, feeling the chill of the night air, her heating turned off.

So far he seemed to be understanding what was happening and was laughing at bits he was supposed to be laughing at. He at least understood now what Charley meant when she said 'muggles' and 'Hogwarts' now.

He decided his favourite character was Hermione, reminding him a little of Charley, the two both argumentative and fiery. This reminded him of the woman in question beside him; she hadn't made a sound in a while. Not wanting to make it obvious he was looking at her, he sneaked a look out of the corner of his eye and saw her completely asleep, her head half on his shoulder. He had barely noticed but now that he had he couldn't ignore it.

The movie was coming to an end now and without moving too much he reached over for the remote control using the button Charley had showed him before playing the film to stop it, feeling a sense of pride when the screen went blank.

Feeling the need to sleep he went to close his eyes but reminded himself of the nightmares that were becoming a daily occurrence. It was one of the reasons he had been so reluctant to live with Charley. He would often find himself in the middle of the night forcing himself to wake up because the nightmares became so intense, and he would wake to find sweat poured over his forehead and his hands out in fists, ready for an attack.

No, he couldn't sleep. Not if Charley was beside him, he might have one of these nightmares and hurt her.

He would stay awake if he had to. It wouldn't be the first time he had had a sleepless night.

He patted the spot beside him for Mabel to jump up again; she did and curled beside leg. It seemed they were the only two in the world that weren't afraid of him. He looked down at Charley again who was breathing softly, hogging the blankets as they wrapped around her, cocooning her inside.

He knew he shouldn't be here. He was dangerous and putting Charley in danger just by being in her presence. Hydra was still after him. But, he felt so comfortable with her. He didn't have to put his glove and hat on to hide who he was with her.

She accepted him.

 **A/N Thank you so much to the reviews and reads on this chapter :D**

 **Maniac at Midnight: Thanks so much for the review/read. it means a lot. haha, yeah one day they'll develop further. This chappy was just full of a load of fluff**

 **Lara Barnes: I hope i'm writing Bucky in character and not making him too OOC. It's making me sad writing him too much on guard and protective of himself. Thanks so much for the reads and review :D**

 **Guest: Yes he does #protectbuckyatallcosts**


	7. Picnic

Charley cracked her eyes open, the parted curtains letting the sunlight fill into the room. As quickly as she could, she assessed her surroundings. She knew it was her living room. Her distortion from not waking up in her own bed faded quickly.

What she didn't understand was why she was feeling so uncomfortable.

She felt her back dig into the chair as her body was twisting in a weird angle. Her shoulder resting on something hard that was far from comfortable. Her neck was too stiff to move. For a few more minutes she laid there, slowly moving her body so it tucked into her chest but she could feel the sunlight underneath her eyelids and she needed to wake up.

Blinking a few times she looked to see what she had been laying on and saw the glint of metal. He noticed her movement and met her eyes halfway. At first glance, Charley noticed the dark circles heavy under Bucky's eyes.

"Morning," she said in a hoarse voice, coughing once to clear it.

"Good morning," Bucky smiled down at her, his eyes glossed over and drained. Charley half wondered why but doubted he had managed to get much sleep with her laying half on top of him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. When I said you could live here I wasn't planning on sleeping on the couch too. I _do_ have a bed, which - by the way - if I do accidently sleep on the couch again you can take my bed, don't feel pressured to stay sitting here."

Charley forced herself up into a sitting position and got off of Bucky's shoulder. She pulled the covers off of herself and instantly missed the feel of warmth her blankets and Bucky gave her.

"Did you stay there all night in that position?" Charley questioned him, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Yeah I did."

"How did you sleep?"

Before Bucky could respond however, there was a knock at the door. Charley found use for her legs and pushed herself off the chair having to use both arms to do so.

"It's like seven in the morning." Charley groaned, as she passed the bathroom she quickly took a peek inside at her own reflection. Her hair having gone wild whilst she slept and she was pretty sure she had morning breath. She reached for the handle and opened the door revealing a delivery boy.

"Good morning, I've got this for you." He passed over a rectangular box, which Charley knew instantly was her fixed laptop.

"Oh thanks." She accepted the box and tucked it under her arm, going back into the living room. "I know just the thing we can do." She held up the box to Bucky, who slowly pulled himself off the couch as well. Through his movement Mabel jumped up and nicked his spot on the couch, curling up in a ball. "Internet."

"I know how to use a computer." Bucky raised his eyebrows. In Charley opinion he looked completely worn out, she wasn't sure why unless he had gotten up in the middle of the night to do a run or something, but she was sure he would have woken up if he'd have moved. She was practically laying on him.

"You do?" Charley replied, surprised. He had obviously had to learn when being the Winter Soldier. She didn't want to press further and end up bringing up bad memories. "Okay, well we can use it to jog your memory. Maybe we can use it for some google searches about world war two. I could probably do with a fresh memory on what happened. It's been awhile since I did history."

She moved over to the kitchen table and propped her laptop down, switching it on. It whirred before starting up.

"You know, if this laptop had never crashed we would have probably never met," Charley said offhandedly whilst trying to clear some space on the mess of her table for Bucky to take a seat. He didn't seem bothered by the mess and took a seat anyway. "Because I wouldn't have stayed so long after work to use their computer. Funny how that happens, eh?"

Bucky nodded and there was silence between them. A minute later, out of nowhere Bucky broke the silence. "I'm glad we met."

"Well _obviously,_ I _am_ awesome." Charley dramatically flicked her hair over her shoulder. It probably would have been more dramatic if her hair wasn't shoulder length. "And it all started over a few slices of pizza." She smiled at the light-hearted nature of their conversations. She sobered up quickly and placed a hand on his shoulder. Even sitting down he was still almost as tall as her. "No, but seriously. I'm glad I met you too."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Charley picked her words carefully. "I was planning on going back to England just before I met you. I was going to go back and live with my parents for a while to figure out what exactly I wanted to do with my life. I wasn't exactly doing what I wanted here but you gave me a reason to stay. So, thanks."

Bucky frowned. "If you want to go back to England, don't let me stop you."

"No, no." Charley shook her head. "I don't want to go back. I just didn't see the point in staying in America when I wasn't doing anything with my life, when all of my friends and family were a whole ocean away. I'm just saying you've made living in America bearable."

Bucky eyes widened ever so slightly at Charley's confession. He ran a hand through his hair as if unsure of what to say. She wasn't sure if she over stepped the boundaries of their friendship. She knew Bucky was sensitive with this kind of stuff but she needed him to make sure she appreciated him.

"Anyway…" Charley breathed out changing her focus to the laptop in front of her. She suddenly became very aware of their touching shoulders and she ever so slightly moved away to break the connection. She didn't need a mirror to know her face was glowing bright red.

"Thank you," Bucky said quietly. So quietly that Charley couldn't be sure if he had even spoken.

"That's alright." Her laptop had finally loaded and revealed her desktop background which was a picture of her and Mabel, still in England inside her family home. "They've removed my password," Charley said clicking over to _personal settings_ and going to add another one. "Actually this is good, we can pick one together so you can use my computer whenever."

"No, it's yours. I don't want to-"

"Bucky, you're living here now. If you ever feel like using the laptop please do." Charley began thinking of something that the two had in common that would make a good password. "What do you think should be our password?"

Bucky lent over and with the one hand typed in a single word. Charley didn't quite catch what he wrote but she carefully watched his fingers type when he filled in the 'retype password' section and saw the word p _izza_ being written.

"I like it," Charley said as Bucky went to click save but the laptop rejected the password saying it had to be something longer.

"Oh, how about this." Charley nudged Bucky's shoulder out of the way and began to extend the password.

"It started with pizza," Bucky read the letters as she typed them. "That works." He smiled up at her.

"Not that we really need a password, who would want to steal this crappy old laptop," she said as she clicked save and left the laptop over for Bucky. "I've got work today again but you can use this if you want, research up on things. I've just got to nip into the shower and get ready. Call me if you need me."

She grabbed her towel that was lying on the radiator and headed for the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

Bucky wasn't sure what to look up. He wasn't sure what he wanted to know. His first thought turned to Steve or Captain America as Charley called him. But for some reason Bucky found calling him Captain America odd.

He put 'Steve Rogers' into the search bar and thousands of pages and pictures appeared, mostly of him in the recent news after the helicarrier crash. He clicked on the fourth one and found a site that had a detailed time line of 'Captain America's adventures' starting from when he was first injected with a sort of serum. Reading it Bucky was trying to imagine the events happening.

From in the bathroom he heard the sound of gushing water being turned on.

As he scrolled to the part where the 'Howling Commandos' were formed, a vague memory of him being in some sort of bar with Steve came to his attention. There was another person there. A woman with short brown hair wearing a red dress. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pin her face with a name until he came across her in the timeline, discovering she had been part of the SSR. Margaret Carter.

"Margaret." Bucky tested the name on his lips but it sounded wrong. He did a quick search on her name finding the name; _Peggy Carter_ which sounded like it fit much better. He was surprised to discover there was no death date meaning she was still alive, despite all of these years.

From the bathroom he heard Charley break out into a song. He recognized the song from Charley's music playlist on her phone that she had played a few dinner times back by an artist called Avril Lavigne. She had played it on repeat, mumbling the words under her breath. He almost laughed when she began singing it over dramatically and completely missing a high note.

He turned back to the timeline when the date of his 'death' showed up. There was along paragraph about Doctor Zola, a German scientist and one about himself. From what he could tell there was no mention of Hydra taking Bucky and turning him into the monster he is today. But Bucky could remember the fall. It was always the first thing that came back to him whenever he started to remember things again after being wiped. He remembered the desperation to reach for Steve's hand, the fear when he missed, the pain when he landed and the horror at seeing his arm ripped off. There was a trail of blood everywhere as Bucky tried as hard as he could to get up, only to be caught by Hydra. He remembered wishing for death.

Feeling tears prick at his eyes Bucky pulled the lid of the computer down and went back over to the sofa to sit down next to Mabel who moved to give him enough space. She curled up on his lap as Bucky stroked her.

The bathroom door opened to reveal Charley in her work uniform and a towel wrapped around her head.

"Bucky?" She said instantly as she rushed over to him such a desperate state. "What happened?" She looked from her laptop back to him in confusion. "What did you read?"

"I was just trying to jog my memory," Bucky explained trying to keep back tears when he thought of the _fall._ If only he had managed to grab on. "I was looking at a timeline of events and I just read up on my death. It just brought memories up again, I shouldn't have read it."

Charley moved her hands to wrap herself around Bucky, embracing him. She felt him duck his head in the crook of her shoulder.

"You're safe now. You don't have to worry about Hydra or anything." Charley consoled.

"The whole world's after me and Hydra is still out there," Bucky reminded her sourly. "And I don't know who to trust besides you."

"Are you thinking of getting in contact with Steve?"

"Yes," Bucky answered honestly. "But I'm not ready. There was another person that I recognized from before, and she's still alive. Peggy Carter."

"You want to see her?"

"I think so. I don't think I was close to her as I was Steve."

"I'll find her address then. _God_ , she's got to be in her ninety's now if she's still alive." Charley got up and began to walk into her room. "Let me just get changed first."

"I thought you had work?" Bucky asked, confused.

"Something more important has come up." She grinned, almost tripping when over the mess of her floor to reach her room. "I'll just call in sick," she said as she closed her bedroom door behind her.

Bucky wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't quite sure how Charley had managed to become the person he depended on most in such little time. He had given up believing people would ever look at him the way she does, without fear in their eyes.

Bucky hadn't realized how long he had pondered over Charley when she appeared in front of him wearing leggings and a loose fitting hoodie.

"I've just called work, they said it'd be fine." Charley shrugged. "It's not like I have days off often, this is the first time I've called in sick since working there." She walked over to the laptop and opened it up. She smiled as she typed in the password. "This has got to be my favourite password yet."

A quick search told her that Peggy Carter was living in a care home. She was surprised she found it so quickly. It said she was one of the former founders of S.H.I.E.L.D.. She would have thought they would keep the location details of their founder secret but she supposed, after S.H.I.E.L.D uploaded everything to the internet, not a lot remained hidden. Not that she wasn't glad, otherwise she would be doing a much deeper search.

"She's in a care home nearby." Charley scanned the page and wrote down the address on a sticky note. "Ugh, there's no visiting hours on a Sunday. We'll have to go tomorrow. Is that alright?"

Bucky looked down, a little disappointed but said no more.

"You didn't have to stay off work for me."

"'Course I did," Charley shut the lid of her laptop down. "You're my friend and you're upset. I would be a shitty person if I left you alone with just my cat for the day, even though she is great." She leant down to stroke her cats ears who looked up and snuggled into her touch. "Let's do something today to get our mind of off it."

"What do you want to do?"

Charley crossed her arms and thought. "Um… a picnic." She gestured to the window which had been left open throughout the night to let the summer air inside. Bucky looked unsure at the idea of leaving the safety of their apartment, but Charley was determined to persuade him. "It's a nice day and there's a park literally just outside where there's a secluded area with a bench. I barely see anyone walk down there and also I really want some picnic food."

Bucky scratched his head. If Charley wanted to do it, he would. He would probably end up enjoying himself. "Alright."

Charley's face lit up into a smile as she practically ran into the kitchen, tripping as she did on the laptop box that she had dropped on the floor when taking her laptop out. Maybe one day she would clean this place up, but that was unrealistic. She knew that.

She didn't have much in her cupboards. She managed to pick up a few sausage rolls and did some buttered sandwiches, a tub of Pringles and two apples that were more for Bucky than her. She had never been a big fan of fruit. Bucky appeared in the doorway and as she passed him the food he had found a plastic bag to put them into.

"This looks like enough," Charley said, weighing the bag. She was about to head for the front door with the bag when Bucky swooped down and took it from her.

"I've got it," he said when Charley went to protest. She knew it would be no good arguing with him, plus she was kind of glad that she didn't have to worry about carrying it because knowing her, she would end up dropping it all and that would mean no food.

They made their way over to the park together. It wasn't quite lunch time yet and true to her word the park was mostly empty, other than a single man walking his dog. Bucky followed Charley as she walked behind a tall bush. She brushed the leaves aside for Bucky to get through.

"Ugh crap," Charley groaned when she saw the bench was broken in two, a tree having fallen onto it. "I guess the floor it is."

Charley chose a particularly grassy spot to sit down with her legs crossed, Bucky followed her but instead leant on the fallen tree trunk before opening up the bag and pulling out an apple.

"Do you still want to get a phone?" Charley asked out of nowhere as she tucked into her sandwich. "I was just wondering because we can order one online now that I have my computer back."

"I probably won't use it but sure." He bit into his apple, the small 'crunch' following with it.

"You don't have to get one if you don't want one."

"If it'll ease your mind I will and it'll ease my mind knowing I can contact you too." Charley wasn't sure what he meant by that. Unless he was concerned for her safety which knowing him he probably was. Especially since Hydra was still looking for him.

"I will be fine. Hydra has no idea where you are," she assured him as she brushed herself down, finishing the last bite of her sandwich. It was colder than yesterday, although the sun was still blazing down onto them through the cracks in the leaves, but a small gust of wind blew. Charley pulled her hoodie closer to her. "So what film do you want to watch tonight? I was thinking Back To The Future, that's a good one."

"I don't think I should stay at your house tonight," Bucky said quietly. He put the finished apple core in a smaller plastic bag, tying up the ends to dispose of.

"What? Why?" she frowned.

"I just don't think I should be staying round yours at night from now on."

"I'm still not understanding why, Bucky. If it's the sofa we can always buy you a bed of your own. Or you can have my bed; I can sleep on the sofa."

"No, no, it's not that at all and that's your bed."

"Then what is it?" Charley thought back to the night before when she had fell asleep on the couch. She wasn't sure what had gone wrong for Bucky to be so against sleeping in her apartment. Was it the mess of it? Well, she could always clear that up. Was it Mabel? Mabel could sleep in her room at night if _that_ what was bothering Bucky. It was no big deal.

Bucky's eyes shifted around from her to the floor. He kept opening his mouth to speak but promptly shutting it again.

"Bucky you can tell me?" she reassured him with a small smile.

Bucky gave a nod to tell Charley that he knew he could.

"I get nightmares," Bucky admitted. "It started after the helicarrier crash and they get pretty violent and it's dangerous to be around me."

"Okay," Charley encouraged him to continue. "Didn't you sleep alright last night though? I was on the couch with you?"

Bucky sighed and Charley knew then that he hadn't slept a wink last night. She pulled a hand up to her mouth and gasped. "Shit, Bucky, you didn't sleep did you? I didn't know. I am so so sorry. I shouldn't have fallen asleep."

He quickly reached over and took her hand that was over her mouth and took it in his own. "No, no it's not your fault. I should have told you. I just don't want you getting hurt because of me. It's for the best if I leave."

"No," Charley snapped. "You are not leaving."

"Charley-"

"Nope." She cut across, popping the p. "I'm not listening. For the future you'll take my bed, meaning if you do get a nightmare you won't harm me. I promise."

"No. if I _am_ staying I'll take the couch. That's your bed."

"So you're staying then?" Charley piped up.

"I said i _f_ I'm staying."

" _You're staying._ " She resolved, her voice lowering an octave. "Promise me you'll stay?"

He looked down again and avoiding her eyes. He looked deep in thought but finally he nodded. "I will but as long as you promise me that if you hear me have a nightmare you'll let me deal with it. Don't come near me. Promise?"

She didn't like that idea, no knowing if she'd be able to stay away knowing Bucky would be in agony in the next room, but to settle the argument and for Bucky to remain living with her, Charley held up her pinky finger to him. "Fine."

He looked from her to her pinky in confusion.

"Oh, you're meant to take your pinky and shake it. It's supposed to make your promises unbreakable."

"Yeah I know. I just- I got a memory of Steve." Bucky's eyes lit up at the memory. Charley stared at him, waiting for him to continue. She liked hearing about the memories that Bucky got back as she got to see the happiness fill his features. "When we first met he was being beat up by some school bullies in the yard. I think Steve was defending some girl after they didn't apologize to her, something like that. They didn't like that so started beating Steve up, all ganging up on him. I went in to stop it but afterwards Steve made me promise that I wouldn't stop a fight for him again."

"Let me guess you didn't listen?" Charley smiled.

"Someone had to look after the kid, didn't they?" Bucky laughed at the fond memory, replaying it over and over again but his smile soon slipped off his face when the reality of his situation kicked in. They were no longer in 1930 and him and Steve were two completely different people. "I wish I could remember more."

"You will," Charley said. "We'll meet Peggy tomorrow, she'll probably bring back a few memories and then we'll go to the Smithsonian the next day if you want. There's literally a whole section about you."

Bucky nodded content with that. He still had no idea if he wanted to see Steve again and even if he did he wasn't sure how to get in contact with him. No, he would wait. He wasn't ready to face it all yet.


	8. Doughnuts

It was a small but wide building. The care home was placed on the outskirts of DC meaning a twenty minute silent journey in the car where for most of it Bucky sat tapping his hand against his leg and looking outside of the window at passing traffic. Just seeing at how nervous he was made Charley's stomach bubble with butterfies.

"You don't have to go in you know," Charley told him as he stood outside staring at the building as if it was going to swallow him whole.

"We've come all this way now."

"It was only a twenty minute journey. We can go back, it'll be no problem," she reasoned. She saw Bucky's hands curl up into fists in nerves, she readied herself to take out her car keys and prepare for a mad dash away from this place but Bucky's jaw locked and he nodded determinedly.

"Let's just go," he said. "Before I change my mind."

With a stride he walked up the steps leading to the care home reception. Even from behind, Charley could see the inner battle he was facing of nerves, as he was tenser than usual. She had to run up to catch up with him as he took three steps at a time (and there were only a few steps and Charley was already out of breath when she reached the top). When she was side by side with him she slipped her hand into his.

"We do this together, okay?"

Bucky gave her a nod of assurance. He took hold of the care home door and held it open for Charley.

When inside she went straight for the main reception area. They had agreed on this in the car, Bucky might be recognized and even though he had his cap, his face mostly hidden by his hair and the hat but it was still risky that one of the nurses might be a huge Captain America fan (especially if they were a nurse of Peggy Carter herself). Luckily barely anyone recognized him as the Winter Soldier; most of the pictures released of him had goggles and a mouth piece on.

The receptionist was on the phone and Charley waited patiently, occasionally turning around to pull a face at Bucky who had taken a seat on one of the leather couches, searching and (to Charley's frustration) ruining the previously neat magazine pile as he searched for one. Although, how could she talk when her apartment was such a mess.

"Sorry about that," the receptionist said, as she put the phone down. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to see Margaret Carter." The receptionist nodded once and began looking around for something. After a few minutes of scuffling about she handed over the desk a clipboard and bed.

"I just need you to sign in."

Charley nodded feeling a little nervous wondering what Bucky would put down. He couldn't very well put James Barnes. Although she doubted many people knew that name, he was more famous for as Bucky or the winter soldier.

Charley connected her pen to the paper when the receptionist gave an audible "Oh". She looked up, frowning. "I'm sorry but only family members are able to see Mrs Carter, or anyone she specifically asked for."

Panicking Charley blurted out without thinking. "I'm f-family," she blurted out. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Bucky look up at her in shock. Taking a breath she continued "I've just come over from Britain and wanted the chance to see her before I go back."

She thought her accent would at least help her case, she had read that Peggy was British too but the receptionist gave her a funny look but looked over at her computer nevertheless.

"What's your name?"

"Charlotte Carter." Charley tried hard to keep her voice from shaking. This was probably the most reckless thing she had done. _Was this even legal?_ she thought nervously.

"I'm sorry your name's not on the list," the receptionist said in an attempt to be sympathetic. Charley sighed, looking over at Bucky who seemed to not be listening to their conversation as he pulled his cap further over his head reading over a model magazine. He was either listening too intently to their conversation to realize what he was reading or really interested in model magazines.

"Look, can you go up and ask if she wants to see a James Barnes," Charley asked desperately, hoping she didn't know who James Barnes really was. "If she says no, we'll go. It's just really important we see her."

She looked slightly annoyed as she clucked her tongue at her, lifting an eyebrow.

"I'll go up and ask but she might not even remember who this Mr Barnes is," she said before tucking a few documents under her arm and heading up to the stairway.

Charley watched her go. When she was out of earshot she turned to Bucky who was staring at her with a worried expression.

"You don't think she knows who I really am, does she?"

"She didn't seem like she did. I guess we'll just have to wait and see if Peggy knows who you are." Charley shrugged, plopping down into the seat next to Bucky. She laughed when she saw what page Bucky was on. It was a spread on the top fashion celebrities were wearing. "I didn't know you were so into fashion?"

Bucky looked confused for a minute before Charley pointed at the page. "Oh." He closed it, revealing on the cover a large picture of Tony Stark dressed in a smart tuxedo, holding up a peace sign to a crowd. It was an old issue, before Stark had even come out as 'Iron Man'. "I was trying to look like I was doing something."

"I hope so, unless you're really into dresses," Charley chuckled and held her hands up in defence. "No judgement from me."

Bucky sent her a glare but his face slowly transformed into worry. "What if Peggy says she doesn't want to see me? I'm not sure if I was even friends with her I just know I recognize her. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't."

Charley shrugged nonchalantly. "We'll either leave and try another day with a different receptionist or… break into one of the upper rooms. I'm sure you could manage it."

"I didn't know you were so against the law?"

"Well I guess I've been in denial all of these years." The image of her burgling a house popped into her head and she almost laughed out loud as she could imagine herself waking everyone up just by tripping and setting off some sort of alarm, knowing her luck. "Anyway, I guess I _am_ helping a wanted man," she gestured to Bucky. "I'm guessing that's illegal right? I was kinda hoping it was just frowned upon," she joked, nudging his shoulder to lift his mood. "You'll get to see her, don't worry so much."

"What do I even ask her when I do?"

"I dunno," Charley said, thinking. "Maybe just ask her if things you remember are true, you could ask about Steve. I know you're still unsure whether you can trust him and maybe she'll help. She might even jog some memories of your own." Bucky nodded, but was still staring intently at the coffee table in front of them. Charley reached over and placed a hand on his gloved metal hand. "It'll be okay."

The receptionist appeared in the doorway again, gesturing towards the staircase she had just come from.

"She said to come right up."

Charley span around to face Bucky, shocked. In all honesty she hadn't expected that to happen. She had all too prepared to start climbing the walls if she had too. Only to help Bucky. Seeing him clutching onto small memories was beginning to break her heart.

"Let's go then," _before he changes his mind again_ Charley thought, grinning when Bucky slipped his hand into hers as the climbed the stairs. She looked down at it with contentment, it suddenly feeling the like the most natural thing to do. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

They followed the receptionist to a room located near the end of the corridor. Just before they reached the room the receptionist turned around. "You know she was really surprised when I said your name, but happy and you've caught her on a good day. I don't think she'll have a memory relapse if you're lucky. If you need anything there's a buzzer to call us on the left of her bed."

The door was closed. Bucky was too focused on the door to bid goodbye to the receptionist so Charley gave a nod of her head in thanks.

"In you go then," Charley nudged his shoulder slightly to encourage him forward, even though it didn't make the slightest difference. If he didn't want to move there was no making him, this was entirely up to him.

Bucky took a deep breath and then took a step forward, turning the door handle.

When they entered the room Charley saw an old lady lying on a bed. Picture frames lined up along the walls, mostly in black and white. A pair of reading glasses and a book sat on the side table.

"I can barely believe my eyes," Peggy's smile widened. "I thought Steve's return was a miracle. I never in a million years thought this would happen."

Bucky slowly approached her. Charley noticed how stiff he looked as he took the main seat by her bed. Charley wasn't sure what to do feeling slightly out of place. There was a seat pushed up against the wall of the room but she still felt she was prying on a private moment.

"I'll just…" She pointed at the hallway, her hand still clasp around the door handle, preparing to turn. She saw Bucky's eyes turn to her, practically begging her not to leave him.

"No stay." It was Peggy that said it.

"As long as you're sure," Charley said awkwardly skimming along to the chair in the corner hoping she was blending into the wall. In this room was an ex-assassin who was probably older than ninety years old (she would have to ask about how old he really is) and the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D. ... and her.

"Do I spy an English accent?" Peggy watched her as she took a seat. Charley was taken aback, surprised the conversation had turned on her. She wanted to shrink into the chair, feeling intimidated. Not in a bad way, just in a ' _Yyu are a legend and I am just me'_ way.

"Uh, yeah," Charley said uncertainly. "I moved here about a year ago, wanting to actually do something with my life."

Peggy's eyes sparkled. "I moved here for the exact same reason."

"Yeah I heard you were pretty badass," Charley said, referring to the articles she had read up about last night. Bucky had fallen asleep pretty quickly after they got back from the park which was close enough to mid-day and fell asleep for the rest of the day and the whole night. He deserved it, she felt terrible for keeping him up the night before. It gave her some free time as she spent most of it in the sanctuary of her room researching more into Captain America. If only she had done this much effort during her history classes at school maybe she would have done a little better.

" _Were_ badass?" Peggy raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Charley smiled. " _Are_ badass."

Peggy tried to laugh as well but it ended up forming into a light cough. When she recovered she looked between Bucky and Charley a softness growing in her old eyes. "Seems we both ended up with our very own super soldier." She leaned in as if about to tell her a fantastic secret. "They're rather annoying aren't they?"

Charley gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, this one walked in at my store trying to steal some clothes. The night ended with us somehow eating pizza together."

"Sounds like quite the story," Peggy conversed. "Was this after the helicarrier crash?"

"You know who I am then?"

"Most of the world knows the Winter Soldier is no longer under the control of Hydra, just very few have made the connection to James Buchanan Barnes. But no, I know you as Steve Rogers' best friend. Bucky." With a struggle Peggy managed to lean over and place her hand over Bucky's metal one. "And I am so sorry this happened to you. It's my fault; I gave Doctor Zola a second chance to work in S.H.I.E.L.D., if I had known Hydra had been growing within S.H.I.E.L.D. I would have put a stop to it instantly. If I had, you wouldn't have-"

"Turned into this monster."

"No," Peggy cut off, surprisingly sharply for an older lady. Charley liked this woman. There was a fire still burning in her eyes that she doubted would go away with age. "I don't see you trying to kill anyone in this room now," she reasoned. "You are no monster, Hydra were the ones controlling you. That was none of your choice."

"That's only because I haven't had a relapse in a while. I used to have one every night, I would just forget who I am and-"

"Me too," Peggy said as if talking about the weather. Her tone wasn't bitter however. "What stopped them?" she asked curiously.

Bucky paused. Slowly his head turned to face Charley. She was still trying to look like she wasn't paying attention to the conversation, feeling out of place. She saw his mouth opened but no words came out. Finally he took a deep breath. "Charley, I guess."

Charley stared amazed at Bucky. Her heart closed up before remembering to actually breath. She wasn't sure what he meant by those words but knowing he had said her name in response to that question made her feel … well she wasn't sure. All she knew was her stomach was doing somersaults and she had to clench up her hand and close it again to stop the tingles spreading up her arm. By then Bucky had already turned away and was talking to Peggy again. There was a friendliness about them, although still a distance. She suspected the two weren't close friends but close acquaintances. She supposed being Captain America's girl she would have had to have at least known Bucky.

Bucky, too, seemed curious of their relationship when he asked, "Sorry, I don't really remember you much. I've been trying to remember things but some of it's not coming back. How did I know you?"

"Oh we only met the once or twice," Peggy told him, tapping her other hand over their already held ones before letting go. "All I know is Steve held you in high regard. You meant a lot to him and now I'm afraid I'll have to lecture you about not seeing him yourself yet."

He looked down guiltily, his fingers scratching at his jean pockets. "I'm just not sure who to trust," Bucky admitted.

"Steve comes and sees me sometimes," Peggy told him matter of factly. "The last few times he's been telling me how desperate he is to see you. He feels as if he failed you."

"I barely know him."

"And you barely know me, yet here you are," Peggy reminded him with a stern expression. Charley definitely liked her. She wasn't afraid to say how it is and was straight to the point. She could imagine a person such as Captain America needing a woman like her.

She started looking around all the pictures in the room. There was a cabinet in the corner where a row of them sat. A lot were of a boy and a girl, they aged in each picture taken. Presumably, they were her own children.

"All I'm saying is give him a chance. If there's anyone you can trust its Steve."

Bucky remained silent but he slightly nodded his head as if any more stronger movement might be sign him up for more commitment than giving Steve a chance. Charley knew it would still be a while before Bucky was prepared to actually try and get in contact with Steve but meeting Peggy had definitely helped.

"Thank you."

It called an ending to their meeting with Peggy. Charley rose from her chair and made to shake Peggy's hand. Her hand connected to her feeble one. She could feel every bone in her hand as she did.

"It was an honour meeting you, Miss Carter."

"You too, Charley?" Peggy lifted an eyebrow, guessing her name from when Bucky had said her name earlier.

Bucky and Charley exited the room hand in hand.

"See what wasn't so bad," Charley nudged him. He nodded in agreement.

"Yeah I suppose it wasn't."

"Did it help?"

"Not my memory. I still remember nothing new but it was nice to see a face I recognize."

They reached the reception doors again, the outside light blinding them. Charley had forgotten just how sunny it was. She noticed Bucky shifted uncomfortably, still wearing his jacket and glove as she took off her hoodie at the quickest moment she could.

"Aren't you hot wearing that?"

Bucky grimaced. "Yeah, but I don't exactly have any other choice but to wear it."

Charley frowned realizing how much Bucky must hate his metal arm. It was just a reminder of all he had done. To show it didn't bother her she linked her arm through his metal one, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm hungry."

"When are you not?" Bucky's face lightened.

"Hey!" she playfully slapped his chest. He only raised an eyebrow as if challenging him to prove her wrong. Who was she kidding? She was pretty much always hungry for food. But only the good stuff. "I saw a Krispy Kreme cart along the way to the car, want one?"

"I don't know what that is but sure."

"They're doughnuts and they're delicious."

The two hadn't really had time for breakfast. Bucky was too nervous and Charley was busy getting ready to see Peggy Carter, former love interest of Captain America. She had to make a good first impression. By the time the two were ready it was too late to eat anything, and it was well past lunch now. Although Charley was pretty much always hungry, as Bucky pointed out, she was starting to feel her stomach growl in delight at the talk of donuts.

They cut across the park to get to her car. There were quite a few people and Bucky kept his head down low.

"I don't think anyone will recognize you, you know?"

"I don't want to take the risk," Bucky said. She saw his face move up a little to catch sight of a security camera pointed at a bench beside them. "And I know they can detect my face on security cameras. You're not getting in trouble because of me."

Charley shrugged. She sometimes forgot that Bucky was running from the law and that helping him was also technically illegal. "I think it's a rather compelling reason to get into trouble if you ask me." Bucky looked up to glare at her. "I'm joking. Honestly though, they won't notice you. They won't be looking for a guy walking casually around a park with a girl. It's the last place they'll think you'll be."

She brought their donuts which officially emptied her purse, there was now only a few cents in there that wouldn't do her much good considering her weekly shop was due soon.

She soon forgot all about her money issues when she took one bite of her doughnut, taking her time to savour each piece. Bucky, however, had finished his within seconds. They had gone back to the park and sat at a bench (one that didn't have a CCTV camera pointed at them).

"That was delicious," Bucky admitted licking his fingers, he had to take his right hand glove off in order to eat the doughnut.

"Uh-huh," Charley hummed in agreement still enjoying her own.

Bucky reached over and put the rubbish in the bin. When he was back by her side he asked, "Are we going to the Smithsonian tomorrow?"

"Yup." Charley nodded excitedly. It was the first thing she had come to see when coming to live in Washington DC and it had been the first and only time she had seen it. She could hardly remember what was there. Although if she had been told a year ago when she went into the Captain America exhibition and was reading up about James Buchanan Barnes, that she would one day be a close friend to the guy, she would have called them loony. "I think it'll help you reconnect with your past self. There's a lot there about you with videos and pictures."

Bucky nodded. They settled into a silence as Charley finished off the last bite of her doughnut. Whilst it had been delicious she was still hungry but she ignored it for now. She would make dinner as soon as they got in.

"Why were you so awkward in the room with Peggy?" Bucked blurted out, causing Charley to look at him frowning.

"Was it that obvious?" she groaned.

"You practically squished yourself in the corner to hide."

"It was probably because I was in a room filled with the woman who started S.H.I.E.L.D and Captain America's best friend who is kind of superhuman. I kinda felt a bit insignificant there."

Bucky frowned. "You don't usually feel like that around me, do you?"

"No, no," she assured him, realizing where his train of thought was leading and wanting to steer it away from him thinking she wasn't comfortable around him because she was. "Of course not. It was just in the room with the two of you, I just realized how insignificant I am compared to you lot and felt out of place. That's all." She had been mulling over this in the room with Peggy. She must be older than Peggy was when she moved to America and joined the SSR. Even by her young age she had done incredible things already. Charley had done nothing of the sort and was living on minimum wage with a growing debt and had done nothing impactful in her life. She was envious of them, which was ridiculous considering all the things they had been through.

She hadn't realized Bucky had taken hold off her hand until she felt his metal thumb caress her own.

"That's all?" Bucky raised an eyebrow in shock. "That's _not_ all, Charley. You're not insignificant."

Charley scoffed. "Come on, what exactly have I done that's significant in my life? I'm pretty much a failure If I'm honest and-"

"Not to me you're not." Bucky cut across sharply.

This stunned Charley enough to stop her from arguing her case that she really was insignificant in the world. And that took a lot. To shut her up. And for once she wasn't really sure how to respond either, never having to deal with compliment as big as this one that technically said; you are an important person to me.

She opened her mouth to respond. To say something, but not able to find the right words.

Without thinking, she reacted. She reached her hands out and grabbed his jacket and pulled it towards her so that their bodies were close to one another. Her heart pumping out of her chest. Her eyes slowly looking down at his lips. She was surprised to see Bucky moving in closer too but before their lips had a chance to connect Charley's brain caught up to speed and she pulled away.

She instantly let go off his jacket and jumped apart.

"Shit, sorry. I wasn't thinking." Charley coughed awkwardly, knowing her face had gone red with embarrassment. She tried to pull her brown curls around her face to hide her shame but there was only so much she could do with short hair reaching to her shoulders.

"It's fine," Bucky replied hurriedly, a stutter could be heard in his voice. She wondered what his face looked like if he had wanted the kiss to happen but she could hardly look at him ever again after almost kissing him.

She could have wacked herself over the head.

The guy had been tortured for the last seventy years and was only just free. The last thing he was thinking was starting up a romantic relationship.

What was she thinking?

"Let's just pretend that never happened." Charley shook her head, finding some sort of bravery to finally look up at him.

He looked just as flustered as she imagined her looking. It was probably due to how embarrassing she was.

She was an utter idiot.

"If that's what you want," Bucky responded understandingly.

"Yeah... yeah," Charley repeated. "I think it's for the best. Let's just get back to the car."

She hurriedly got up preparing to run all the way to the car, when she was a few paces ahead Bucky called her back.

"Your purse." He was holding her purse in his hand reaching out for her to take it. She took it from him, trying not to create any contact with him and blushed harder when their skin brushed one another.

 _Why the hell did I do that_? She thought whilst internally cringing.

 **A/N**

 **I wasn't really 100% sure how to write Peggy in this scene, I hope I did her character alright :D**

 **Alybly1: omg thanks so much for the compliment on my writing. i've always been unsure of whether or not I was actually writing half decently so thanks so much for assuring me. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the rest :D**


	9. Ice Cream

Charley went to sleep that night without saying a single word to Bucky. They had driven home in silence, eaten in silence, somehow chosen a movie to watch in silence, and mouthed a goodnight to each other in silence.

She was utterly mortified. In bed, every time she remembered the events of their almost kiss she would have to spin over, laying over her front so she could shove her face in her pillow to internally scream into. She couldn't believe she had royally screwed up a perfectly good growing friendship.

Somehow her thoughts turned to how it would have played out if she hadn't off pulled away. Half wondering if Bucky had wanted to continue?

 _Had he?_ She thought curiously, he hadn't been pulling away. Although it was probably out of shock.

She finally felt herself slipping on and out of consciousness dreaming about what could have happened.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

Charley suddenly sat up. Her ears pricking up at the sound of smashing from the other room. A groan, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass erupted from her living room.

It was dark and Charley flung her legs over the side of the bed, stepping on her phone that was on the floor charging. She must have some how turned her phone on as light exploded in her face, causing Mabel to hiss at the end of the bed, her head poking up from underneath the covers.

"Shhh, go back to sleep." Charley lent over and stroked her cat. She nuzzled into her touch falling straight back to sleep.

"Bucky?" Charley called out when Mabel had settled down again. "Are you alright out there?"

Tiredly she carried her legs to her bedroom door, her phone clutched in her hand as she tapped the flashlight option. Before opening the door she leant her ear against it, analysing any sound she could to see if she could guess how many there were behind the door. Her heart thumping for fear that Hydra had found them.

There were no footsteps, only groans of agony.

Panicking, Charley pulled the door open slightly, peering round the edge of her door to get a glimpse of what was happening. She could barely see anything so she brought her phone up.

On her couch was a silhouette. Bucky was withering around in his sleep, his head leant back as his teeth jittered together, echoing out a scream. Charley stared motionless, un-expecting to see such a horrific sight of Bucky in pain.

"Bucky?" With her eyes wide she ran towards him, her arms out wide, the blood draining from her face. "Shit," she let out, abruptly stopping metres away from him, remembering her promise to Bucky about not going near him when he had a nightmare.

From the glint of her flashlight she could see his metal arm. It was tense, curled up in a fist and was thrashing robotically about along with his body.

"BUCKY WAKE UP!" she cried desperately, wanting to look away. It was worse than she could ever have imagined. Bucky began hitting his head back and forth connecting with the arm of the couch. He wouldn't stop. "PLEASE WAKE UP! SHIT. _BUCKY_!"

She ran back into her room and snatched her pillows from the bed. Standing two metres away she began chucking them at him with as much force as she could muster. Bucky's arm swung hitting the pillow with a powerful strike. It flung across the room, hitting a lamp which fell straight from the cabinet and smashed to the floor.

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Charley said, her voice cracking under the pressure. She was scared; scared for him and the pain he was seemingly in.

She looked around for something else to throw and found a few magazines and chucked them. Her aim was off and they landed, scattered four feet away from where Bucky's manic form was.

An idea sprung to mind as she ran into her bedroom and grabbed the water guns that she had stashed away at the bottom of her wardrobe. They hadn't come out since the first day she had moved to America. She finally found them hiding at the bottom of a box on top of mountains of clothes and took one, running to the kitchen to fill it up with water. Bucky was still screaming as she readied herself to aim the gun at Bucky's face, her hands shaking as Bucky's nightmare was seeming to get worse. He began choking on his own scream, struggling for air. If this didn't work Charley would _have_ to wake him up herself.

She clicked the trigger and water squirted everywhere, all over Bucky's face. He spluttered for a second but his arms lowered and his body became slack, relaxing.

"Bucky?" Charley stepped forward, cautiously. "Are you alright?"

"Charley?" Bucky sat up quickly analysing his surroundings. The coffee table was over turned with the glass in the middle of it scattered everywhere. The contents on the table were either ripped in pieces or thrown about the room somewhere. "Did I... Did I do this?"

Biting her lip, Charley instantly went to defend him. "You had a nightmare, it wasn't your fault. Next time I'll be sure to keep the water gun by my side so I can wake you up quick-"

"Charley." Bucky shakily stopped her talking. He was breathing heavily, having to clutch onto the air of the chair as he tried to get his breath back. She raised her hand to give herself more light. It was only then she saw the sweat trickling down his forehead and the bottom half of his t-shirt completely ripped in half. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you at risk like that." He leaned over the chair to grab his shoes that were laid carelessly about. "I shouldn't have stayed here."

Charley dropped the water gun and ran over to Bucky, her hands going to snatch his shoes away from him but Bucky had a death grip on them and no matter how hard she could have pulled there was no way she was getting them away from him.

She decided she would argue her case instead. It was what she was good at.

"You are not leaving me now." She pouted, sitting down next to him, careful to not step on any broken glass as she had bare feet. "Don't even think about it."

"I'm just getting in the way and I'm dangerous," Bucky said, not looking at her, his eyes closing as if imagining something. "I don't know what I would have done if you had come near me, I could have killed you."

"Hey, _you_ said you would stay here as long as I never went near you if you had a nightmare," Charley explained, referring to the promise she made on Bucky's first night living with her. "And I didn't go near you. If you leave you'll be breaking that promise!"

"It's not that simple."

"It is if you _make_ it that simple." Charley crossed her arms stubbornly. "Anyway, you broke my lamp. You owe me." She pouted dramatically getting up and heading to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for that and for your coffee table."

Charley waved her hand in the air as if brushing it aside. "Pfft, I hated that stupid coffee table anyway. It was always in the way, I kept banging my knee into it every time I stood up." A hand went to her leg as if there was a particular sore spot still there. "I'm kind of relieved if I'm honest."

From the kitchen, Charley could hear Bucky scrapping up the glass with his metal hand into a pile and then moving the wreck of her coffee table to the side. Charley appeared a second later with two tubs of ice cream in her hand and spoons. She had put slippers on her feet for fear of cutting herself on some broken glass.

"Okay so I don't even like ice cream but it's good comfort food so I keep a stash of it for situations like these." She handed a tub and spoon to Bucky who took it, confused. "Although I always imagined I would use it for a break-up or something, but that's not going to happen anytime soon so why waste it."

"You don't have to do this."

"Do what?" Charley raised an eyebrow, opening up her ice cream. She put her spoon down on her lap, excited to see they had the little brown wooden sticks inside instead.

"I've already ruined your life as it is."

"You didn't ruin my life." Charley frowned, trying to find the right words to explain to him just how much he meant to her. Even if it had only been a few short weeks since they had met. It was probably the best five weeks of her life. "You made it bearable if anything."

"You're just saying that because you feel sorry for me."

" _Yeah_ I guess I do feel sorry for you but that's not the reason I'm saying that," Charley argued. "I'm telling you that because it's the truth. Now stop arguing with me and eat your ice cream. It's disgusting."

Bucky let out a breath of air, relaxing back down into his seat. "You don't like Ice cream?"

"I'm fussy." Charley shrugged, taking a bite of her ice cream anyway (the smallest bit she could manage onto her small wooden spoon) and chewing on it with a scowl written on her face. "I might gag," she warned, mimicking throwing up but going for another bite anyway as Bucky watched on amused.

"I like it," Bucky added as he opened his up own tub and put his whole spoon in, fishing out the largest bit he could.

"I guess they don't-"

"Call me the Winter Soldier for nothing?" Bucky finished, raising an eyebrow. His voice gurgling as he tried to swallow a mouthful off ice cream in one.

"H _ey_ , how'd you know I was going to say that?"

"You're predicable." He laughed at Charley, who huffed like a child. "Ow…" Bucky groaned, suddenly raising a hand to his head. "Ow. Brain freeze. I forgot ice cream does that to you."

Charley choked on the small bit of ice cream in her mouth and had to clutch onto her sides to stop herself from laughing too hard. She couldn't help it. The scary Winter Soldier that was all over the news was suffering from _brain_ _freeze_. She laughed so hard that she almost fell of the couch onto the pile of glass, had Bucky not been quick enough to bring his metal arm up and catch her, his arm firmly held onto her waist as she still could not contain her laughter.

"Told you ice cream sucks."

"It's worth it though." Bucky laughed, letting go off her waist and going for another large chunk, even though he was still wincing at his headache. Charley instantly missed the feel of his hands around her waist and wished he would put them back.

Her thoughts drifted to the day before and once again her cheeks flamed up red and she felt the temperature in the room rise. She half wanted to go pick up her pillow that was now laying by the broken lamp and scream into it again.

"Listen, about yesterday at the park…"

Bucky put his ice cream down on the side table (now that they had no coffee table for Charley to chuck her rubbish on). He nodded looking her in the eye. "If you want to forget it happened, it's fine."

"Do _you_ want to forget it happened?"

Bucky's lips tilted upwards as he shrugged. "I've spent most of my life forgetting things. I don't want to forget again."

"Well when you put it like that…" Charley smiled at the idea of Bucky not wanting to forget her. Even something as embarrassing as last night. She forced another spoonful of ice cream down thinking about how the tension between them had disappeared and Charley wondered if Bucky had even felt the previous awkward air at all.

"How do you manage to make me feel so normal?" Bucky asked suddenly, readjusting his position on the couch, so he was completely facing Charley who had her legs tucked up to her chest, resting against the chair's arm. "Even if the situation is completely crazy."

"I'm mundane like that. I make the most crazy of situations feel boring," Charley said lightly.

"I didn't mean it like that you know." Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, frowning.

"I know." Charley smiled. "And you _are_ normal. You've just had crazy stuff happen to you. I get nightmares too sometimes." She leant in with a serious expression, as if about to tell a big secret. "When I was about nine or ten I had a dream once that I turned into a gingerbread man and the only way for me to go back human is if someone ate me." She pulled away laughing. "It was terrifying."

Bucky smiled. "You were a gingerbread man?"

"Well gingerbread woman if you want to get technical," Charley shrugged licking her spoon. "Do you think there was a secret message behind that dream?"

"Maybe… don't eat gingerbread men?" he suggested uncertainly.

"Nah I was most terrified when people were trying to eat me. I think it was telling me to stay away from cannibals," Charley deadpanned, before laughing along with Bucky as he started to throw his head back letting out a large chuckle. "So…" she said slowly, her smile falling from her face. "What was _your_ dream about? I don't know if it can beat my gingerbread one," she added sarcastically.

Bucky stopped laughing instantly and looked up, hesitant to answer, a cautious look in his eye. Despite this he said, "Hydra. What else?"

"Was it about something they did to you?"

"The problem is, with them wiping my memory I forget the good stuff and the bad stuff, and sometimes the bad stuff is remembered as well as the good," Bucky admitted sadly. He had finished his ice cream and with a glum expression put the empty tub on the side. "Some things are better left forgotten."

Charley raised an eyebrow, passing her unfinished ice cream to him, which he accepted happily, a puppy like smile glowing onto his face. "I thought you said you didn't want to forget anymore."

"I was talking about you," Bucky grinned. "Not about the bad stuff."

Charley scoffed but a soft warm feeling in her chest erupted at the idea of Bucky categorising her as the 'good stuff'. "Is that your way of saying that the _incident_ yesterday wasn't the most embarrassing, awkward, cringe-worthy situation of your life? For which I am so so sorry for."

"I don't think I'd remember even if there was a more embarrassing moment," Bucky laughed. "And it was kind of cute how you reacted." Bucky opened his mouth to say something more but promptly shut it.

"If you say so," Charley raised her eyebrow, kind of regretting mentioning it again. What happened to forgetting it ever happened? "So, are you going to tell me what happened in this nightmare of yours?"

Bucky winced and he put the ice cream tub down, suddenly not looking interested in the vanilla ice cream. "A mission. I remember them at odd periods."

"What mission was it?" She tried to draw out of him, wanting to help him. She didn't care how bad it was, as far as she was concerned, Bucky and the Winter Soldier were two separate people.

"I think it was 1988." Bucky narrowed his eyes trying to think off the date before he became fazed, as if lost in the bitter memory. "I was assigned to kill ten S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They were all hiding undercover and I found them and strangled them all. They didn't have time to call for back-up…"

"It wasn't you, Bucky," Charley reminded him, placing her hand on his. "It was Hydra, they had control over you."

"I still killed them." Bucky licked his lips avoiding eye contact with Charley. His eyes caught the pile of glass that he had made and reached down to finish cleaning it up. Charley went into the kitchen, picking up the dustpan and brush that was hidden under a pile of left out dishes.

She came back and scooped up the glass Bucky had collected together.

"Careful," Bucky said taking the dustpan from her. "There might still be glass on the floor."

Tiredly Charley wiped her eyes. "I'll clean it up tomorrow." She yawned. "Let's just relax for now, let's talk about the good stuff you remember."

Charley heard Bucky sigh has he put the broken glass into the bin.

"Go back to bed, Charley, I'm keeping you awake." Bucky appeared in the kitchen doorway, rubbing his metal arm through his thick, long hair. "I'll finish cleaning this up." He gestured to the mess of a room. In fairness, it was already a mess before Bucky had smashed the place up.

Charley rolled her eyes. "If I go back to bed will you sleep?" She knew he wouldn't and the blank stare Bucky gave her answered that. "Then I won't sleep knowing you're not sleeping. So we'd both be awake and then what's the point in that. Now, what can you remember that's good?"

Bucky fell down beside Charley on the couch, his metal arm exposed as it brushed up against Charley's, the cool metal sending tingles up her back at their touch. She ignored it and waited for Bucky to answer.

"I remembered someone else yesterday," Bucky said and Charley nodded, encouraging him on. "It's a girl… she looked just like my Mom. Rebecca, everyone called her, but I just called her Becki." He looked away down at the floor a distant smile on his face.

"She was your sister?" Charley asked, putting two and two together.

"I think so." Bucky narrowed his eyes, remembering. "Me, her and Steve used to go dancing. Steve would always hide in the corner, never speaking to any girls, completely awkward and most of _my_ night was spent chasing creeps away from Beck, and she would always get angry at me saying she could do it herself." The happiness in his eyes faded. "She's probably dead now. It's probably for the best; she doesn't have to see what I've become."

Charley brought her hand up to catch his. "Hey, don't think like that. For all you know she lived a great life." She looked over at her laptop that was still on the table. "Do you want to find out? See what _did_ happen to her?"

"No. I don't want to know," Bucky said quickly. "If she didn't live a happy life then I don't want to know otherwise."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Bucky smiled glumly then finally looked up. "Let's talk about your family."

"Not much to say," Charley shrugged, sad at the change of topic. She liked listening to the stories Bucky remembered but understood why he had wanted to change topics abruptly. "I've got a brother and a sister, a mum and dad, aunts and uncles. We're just your average family. They're all in England, I don't really talk to them much if I'm honest."

"Why not?"

She scrunched her nose up, thinking about how to phrase it. "I think they think I'm actually doing something with my life in America, I know they'll be disappointed to find out I'm living on minimum wage and not really doing any better than I would if I hadn't moved away." She shrugged. "Every time I talk to them they always ask what I've been up too. I just don't want to disappoint them."

"I can't imagine you ever disappointing anyone, Charley," Bucky said softly.

Charley shrugged, wanting to change subject, feeling sensitive on it. She felt bad for not calling her family. It had been months since she had had a proper conversation with her mother. The last time they had talked had been over Facebook private messenger and it had been a quick 'how are you' and 'I'm fine' and that had been weeks ago, before the helicarrier crash.

"Do you want to watch a film?" Charley asked quickly before Bucky asked anymore questions about her life. "I was thinking the Wizard of Oz."

It would be a film Bucky at least recognized, or it might jog some memories.

"It's up to you," Bucky shrugged, leaning back. Charley nodded and got up to set up the DVD player and slot in her copy of wizard of Oz which she had already out, preparing herself to watch it with Bucky.

When it began to play Bucky's screwed up his face in confusion.

"Have I watched this before?"

"Probably." Charley watched him carefully, happy to see a glint of recognition enter his eyes at the sight of the film. He said nothing more about recognizing it. She relaxed into the film. She was tired and wanted to go to sleep but knowing Bucky needed her now prevented her. She rested her head on his metal arm humming along to the movie's songs (well it became humming after she had been singing allowed and Bucky had started laughing).

She was glad the awkward tension from their almost kiss was pretty much gone now. Although she couldn't be sure if the situation would occur again. Bucky would say things sometimes that melted Charley's heart.

 _He's your friend._ Charley reminded herself. They were friends. Good friends, somehow. She wouldn't ruin that friendship.

 **A/N Just to let everyone know I will be writing the events of Civil War into this story (obviously not yet, the events of civil war don't take place until two years in this storyline so it'll be awhile) I watched the film three times and it's amazing, don't worry no spoilers but it's just a.m.a..z.i.n.g**

 **Lara Barnes: thanks so much for the review. I know Charley has a habit of making things embarrassing**

 **Guest: thanks so much for the rewiew :D**

 **finish-her: i'm glad you're liking the story so far, you don't know how happy this review made me. I feel Bucky needs a normal girl in his life, and the comical moments are definitly needed in his life. Thanks so much for taking your time to read this, means so much :D**


	10. Kit-Kats

Charley felt the excitement pump through her as she caught sight of the Captain America banner leading to the exhibition. As she rushed through the crowd of people she had to grab Bucky's hand to pull him through as he was slowing down the nearer he got to the exhibition.

Bucky moved his hand up to his head, pulling his cap down lower to cover his eyes.

"Do I have to do this?" Bucky asked quietly. Stopping abruptly Charley spun around to face him.

"No of course not" She replied simply "but it'll help. I promise"

She knew why he was so nervous. There were so many people here. She hadn't remembered it being this busy the last time she came. It was September now and she had assumed the kids would be back at school and therefore less people going. Nevertheless, there were crowds and crowds of people all lining up to get onto the escalator. There was bound to be one person here who knew the face of James Buchanan Barnes. Charley joined the queue with a reluctant Bucky following closely behind, he was eyeing up the posters of all the exhibitions, leading upstairs.

"Do you think we can go see the air and space one after?" Bucky asked his eye closely trained on a poster with a WWII plane on it.

Surprised, Charley nodded "Sure, why not. Actually that's a pretty good idea. It's my last day off from work so might as well make the most of it. Any particular reason?"

"Just looks cool" Bucky shrugged changing his focus onto the Captain America poster and his face went white.

"So, are you into aircraft"

"It looks interesting" Bucky said. His lips twitching upwards and Charley knew he was remembering something good "I remember having a collection of plane models in my room when I was a kid. I used to build them with Beci"

"You used to collect planes?" Charley smiled, the image of a little Bucky playing with toy planes came to mind.

"From what I can remember... yeah"

They reached the escalator as it jolted up, Charley clutched onto the hand-rail as they stepped on, her hand accidently grazing over the man's in front of her as she tripped when they moved up "Sorry" She mumbled an apology when the man turned around to glare at her when he neither accepted or registered she had even apologized she faced Bucky, cringing.

"Graceful" He commented sarcastically, smiling.

"It is one of my _many_ skills" Charley readjusted her feet to prevent another tripping "No, honestly I am a hopeless case. Catch me if I trip again because it is bound to happen"

Bucky raised a single eyebrow "But it's so much funnier to watch you trip"

Charley childishly pouted "I would say I will trip _you_ up if you don't but we both know that's not possible" She held up a finger and wagged it "Although I'll have you know I can totally take down my brother" She coughed "Who is five years younger but it still counts"

She saw him smirk under his cap "You used to beat up your younger brother?"

"He encourages it" Charley exclaimed, holding her hands up in defence. Bucky shook his head, laughing.

They slowly made their way to the front of the crowd. There was wall where the whole cover of it was Captain America picture, saluting down at them. The relaxed Bucky from before had disappeared again, as he spotted a display with his face over it, a small description beside it that they couldn't read from where they walked.

Bucky gritted his teeth together, his hands clenching.s

"You want to turn around? We can always go downstairs and-"

"No, it's fine I just…" Bucky gulped "if anyone notices me, pretend you don't know me. I'll escape on my own"

"Buck-"

"And call me James for now, less recognizable" He looked down on her seriously. Charley opened her mouth to argue but for once she closed it when Bucky cut across her "Promise me?"

"Bu- James" Charley corrected herself finding it sounded foreign on her lips "I don't know if I can pretend I don't know you"

"I can't let you get in trouble for me. If anyone here recognizes me I'll get out as soon as possible, just don't follow" Bucky formulated the plan together. Charley had suspected he had been planning to do this for a while now but was only just bringing it up now, either that or the picture of his face had reminded him that he was fully on show and anyone could recognize you.

Charley saw no point in arguing so nodded "It won't happen anyway" She assured herself rather than him "No one will recognize you"

The passed a member of staff as they handed out leaflets of the Captain America exhibition. Charley flicked through it finding it was full of pictures of Captain America and the howling commandos. On the back there was a picture of Peggy in her young years dressed in military gear.

"Is this you?" Charley gasped when she saw a full body black and white picture of Bucky in his own military uniform, preparing to leave for what looked like a mission with Captain America and the rest of the Howling commandos. His hair was short and pushed back much different from his long locks that fell into his eyes "wow" She gasped "you look good if I may say. The uniform suits you"

Bucky wasn't paying attention, he was staring off in the distance. Charley followed his eye line and saw him looking at the large display at the end of the hall. It had mannequins of all the howling commandoes uniforms (excluding Captain America's) lined up in a row. In the front was what looked like Bucky's uniform. It was the same one from the picture Charley had just been looking at.

"Okay that is pretty cool" Charley admired the suit, joining the crowd of people who were already trying to get closest to it in order to get a good photo "I wonder where the Captain America uniforms gone, they had it last time I was here. Although I kind of like your one being at the centre"

"Steve must have stolen it" Bucky said, joining to stand beside her "It was the same one that he was wearing when I last saw him"

"See your memories fine, I don't know what you're complaining about" Charley joked, sticking her tongue out at him to which he responded by giving a small chuckle. The crowd cleared and they were able to get a closer look at the uniform "Is it bringing back any memories yet?"

"I've got an idea of what all these guys' faces looked like" he gestured to the other mannequins "And you saying about the uniform reminded me of when I first saw Steve in it. He was saving me from Hydra… the first time"

Charley frowned, not realizing there had been two times he had been taken by Hydra "the first time?"

"It wasn't long" Bucky sighed now scanning the videos playing along the walls. There were headsets plugged into them which you could pick up and listen to the voiceovers. Charley could see from the videos there was one of Peggy talking. She looked as if she was in her late thirties by this point "I can't remember much of it but I think they experimented on me. Steve appeared and got me out"

"I didn't know you had been captured twice"

"As I said the first time wasn't for very long" Bucky told her "Much less than seventy years"

Charley reached down and clutched Bucky's hand. She could tell this was getting to be too much for him, maybe they would return another day. At least then Bucky would be prepared for what he was going to see here. He had made so much progress in the last few weeks "Let's go see the air and space exhibition, if you want?"

Whilst there was still things to explore in the Captain America area, Charley thought it a good idea to end it now.

As they exited the Captain America expedition there was a donation box. She fished inside her pockets for a few coins and handed them to Bucky, wanting him to do the honours (in fairness, half the expedition was in honour of him). He walked a few steps towards the box and slotted it inside. Charley turned to leave but her feet ended up colliding with another person's. she tried to grab onto something but there was only air, her entire body heading to the floor from tripping. Bucky was too far away to catch her this time (although to his credit, he had tried as he was practically beside her when she next looked up)

She was quick to recover when a girl's hand leant down to help her up. She accepted it, pulling herself up from the floor with a huff.

"Sorry about that" The girl apologized, wincing.

Charley cringed at how embarrassing she was "No, sorry my bad"

The girl took a step to walk away, accepting there had been no harm done when she did a back step, gasping her eyes suddenly darting from the spot beside Charley to something behind her.

Beside Charley was Bucky, he had his metal hand on her elbow (probably to keep her falling over again, which in all fairness was for the best. She didn't exactly have the best track record). She followed the girl's eye line of what she was looking at behind her and saw the picture of a 1940 Bucky.

"You're…" The girl pointed at him, wide eyed "You're him…"

She could feel Bucky's entire body tense beside her and she knew he was already preparing to run.

Thinking fast Charley linked her arm through with Bucky. This only made Bucky become more tense when Charley laughed.

"Someone's mistaken you again, ey Harry?" She send Bucky a quick warning look, nudging his arm to play along. After a moment of hesitation Bucky painfully forced out a smile "He looks just like him doesn't he? He always gets pulled over and questioned about it" The girl's eyebrows burrowed together in confusion, staring between the pair of them. Panicking, Charley continued on speaking to divert the girl away and ended up rambling out "Don't worry he makes use of it, he cosplays all the time" after an awkward pause Charley made it worse by adding "I cosplay Steve"

The girl looked taken aback but nodded anyway, mumbling another apology and hurrying away probably to get away from how lunatic the two of them sounded.

"Easy" Charley dramatically dusted her hands off "I should totally be a spy. I would be great on undercover missions"

Bucky stared with an open mouth at Charley. When she went to walk off as if nothing happened Bucky caught up with her "I thought we promised you were going to pretend like you didn't' know me and I was going to escape"

Charley raised an eyebrow "And how much easier was my method?"

Bucky didn't' answer and Charley knew she had won this argument. As usual.

They continued to walk along the gallery in silent, travelling back down the escalator into the main hall where each exhibit led too. Out of nowhere, Bucky asked "What does cosplay mean?"

Charley choked on her own air, not expecting that question to exit Bucky's mouth. She hadn't really thought about it when she said it, so scared that the girl was going to find out who Bucky really was that she reacted by instinct. Apparently saying that Bucky cosplayed as Bucky was her instinct.

Finally finding her breath she let out "Don't worry. Hopefully, something you'll never have to worry about"

They took a right turning into a hallway and photos of planes. Hanging above them was a life size model of one of the first plane ever built, or at least that's what charley assumed it was, she really knew nothing about planes.

Bucky however was pacing from model to model. At one point, Charley lost him in the crowd and had to elbow a few people out of the way finding him admiring a WW2 plane. She read the plaque above it discovering Howard Stark had helped make it.

"Okay that's cool"

"It's a fighter jet" Bucky informed her, smirking when Charley raised an eyebrow, impressed "Stark used to help with the Army with stuff like this"

"You remember all of that?"

"Yeah, it's all coming back to me… slowly" Bucky's lips curved upwards. Finally he took his eyes away from the plane model and they fell onto Charley.

"You know if you're a big fan of Howard Stark you might be interested in researching Tony Stark. His son"

"He had a son?"

"Yeah. He's probably one of the most famous people on earth right now so don't let anyone hear you say you don't know who he is"

They finished off in the air and space exhibition, Bucky picking up multiple pamphlets to read through at a later time. Charley felt pitiful for any picking up one Captain America one. They were tucked under Bucky's arm as they left. She couldn't help but smirk at how nerdy he looked. She hadn't seen anyone come out of an exhibition holding that many pamphlets at once.

"Let's go see if there's a food canteen here, hey?"

"You're hungry again?" Bucky raised his eyebrows, laughing slightly as Charley pulled him using both her hands to pull him along, her back facing the crowd.

"Again?" Charley scoffed "I am always hungry. You've been to your favourite exhibition, not time to visit mine"

"What are you thinking of getting this time?"

Charley put her hand to her chin as if mock thinking, although she had already planned what she was to have for lunch hours ago "Bacon sandwich" She sniffed the air as if she was able to smell it.

"That does sound nice, actually" Bucky agreed.

The canteen was busy. Whilst Charley brought two bacon sandwiches for the two of them Bucky found a table hidden in the corner. It took Charley ages to find him again with a tray full of food. She ended up buying more than she had planned too with an extra chocolate bars and a hot chocolate for herself.

"Six chocolate bars?" Bucky raised an eyebrow when Charley put the tray down in front of him.

"I resent the judgment tone" Charley took a seat and started on her sandwich "In fairness, three were for you. Try them, they're heaven on earth"

Bucky leant over to take one, deciding on a kit-kat bar and swiftly opened it, biting straight into it without snapping it into two halves. Charley dramatically gasped and took what remained of it out of his hand, snatching it away.

"I know you're new to this but I can't have you being one of _those_ people" Charley shook her head, whilst tutting "You've got to snap it in two and eat one side at a time. It's a rule"

Bucky frowned "Why does it matter?"

"It just does" Charley fussed passing him the chocolate bar back but not before snapping it in two halves.

Bucky confused, did as Charley told him whilst laughing at the oddity of her request.

Charley gave a single nod, satisfied, before turning back to her own lunch.

To check the time she pulled out her phone finding she had a few messages from a friend from work asking where she had been the last few days. She swiftly texted back with a quick lie that she was ill and she would be back tomorrow. When she was done she opened up her lock screen, smiling at the picture of her last day in England with her parents and siblings in the picture. Mabel was clutched in Charley's arm, she was using her hand to hold up her paw to mimic a wave at the camera.

"Do you know what I just realized?" Charley conversed, going into her picture gallery on her phone and swiping through them "We've been friends for over five weeks and I still don't have a selfie with you"

"A what?"

"A selfie" She pulled up the camera on her phone and flipped the screen around so that the camera was trained on them. Bucky's head wasn't in frame, his shoulders were the only part of him in show. Charley grabbed his elbow and tugged him down to fit him in a blazing smile lighting up her face. Bucky however was frowning "You're meant to smile"

"Why?"

"It's a picture"

"I know it's just a weird way to take one"

"Just smile"

Charley was very aware of the odd stares she was getting from a few tables at her conversation with Bucky, introducing him to selfies.

Nevertheless Bucky painfully forced a smile out. It wasn't nearly natural and it caused Charley to cringe as she took the picture.

"Oh come on" Charley laughed as the photo she has just taken was shown to her. Bucky's face was dark from the shadow of his cap and was clearly grimacing "Let's do that again. Think of something that makes you smile"

He thought for a moment before a wide, soft grin spread over his face making him look like a completely different man. The one from the videos they has seen upstairs. Charley wanted to ask what he was thinking about that caused him to smile so widely but thought it best not to pry.

She pulled up her camera again and took the snap quickly. When she took it she opened it up in her gallery, Bucky leant over as well to take a look.

"I love it" Charley smiled at the picture. Bucky looked so refreshed in the picture as if he hadn't been through years of torture, and like the two were friends meeting up on a regular day out "I'm making it my background straight away" whilst changing it Bucky caught a glimpse of her last phone background with her family.

"Is that your family?" Bucky asked

"Yeah…" Charley trailed off, tracing her finger over the image and let out a deep sigh before changing it to the new one.

"What are their names?"

"Alice and Graham are my parents" Charley said. She flicked through the options on her phone and pulled up her gallery finding a folder called 'family'. The last picture in the album was her with her family two years ago at Christmas, everyone smiling in Christmas jumpers over a turkey meal.

"You miss them" He wasn't asking a question "You should call them"

Charley groaned, looking up at Bucky "But I've left it so long. They're going to be so annoyed at me" guilt welled up in Charley as her hand hovered over her contact button "They're probably worried sick. I haven't called them since the helicarrier crash. What do I even say 'hey, I'm still alive!'"

"It's probably a good start" Bucky shrugged and reached down with his metal arm, gently taking hold off Charley's finger and pressed down causing her finger to click the contacts button.

"You miss them" He repeated in a matter of factly tone, letting go of her hand as she begrudgingly looked through her contacts for word 'home'. She wavered over pressing call and finally with a deep breath hit it, pressing the phone to her ear as Bucky watched her expectantly "it's ringing" she mouthed, her heart thumping when the line picked up.

"Hello" Her mum's cheery voice rang through the phone "Who is this?"

"It's Charley" She managed to get out, not realizing just how much she had missed her parents. The distance had become second nature to Charley.

"Charley!" Came the surprised squeal at the other end of the phone which pierced Charley's ears "You _are_ alive, then?" her mother said sternly. She could practically see her glaring down the phone.

"Charley?" The muffled sound of a man was heard. She instantly recognized it as her dad.

"Why are you only _just_ calling us?" Her mother asked crossly "we've been worried sick, we've been trying to call you-"

"I know, I got a new phone"

"With those things falling in Washington all over the news, we were so worried" She finished and Charley felt the weight of her guilt crush onto her. She knew she should have called them.

"I'm sorry" was all she could say "I promise from now I'll call more often I've just had a lot of stuff going on"

"Well it doesn't matter now" her mum said "We're here"

Catching Charley's attention she sat up straighter, spluttering on air "You're what?" Bucky span around to face her looking confused as she choked. His lunch half gone already.

"We're outside your apartment"

"Excuse me?" Charley pursed her lips together, thinking she misheard her. She must have done, it wasn't possible for her mum to be outside of her apartment "You're outside my what now?"

Her mum tutted "We were so worried. You weren't responding to any of our texts or calls-"

"I just told you I got a new-"

"I know, I know, but me and your dad were just concerned and we've always wanted to come to America"

"So you're outside my apartment?" This made Bucky look up in shock. She returned the stare, equally as petrified as he was. She was glad Bucky had made her take the call now, at least now she was prepared rather than going home and finding them on her doorstep. Bucky turned away and began scratching at the table in deep thought.

"Yes, Charlotte. That's what I said" there was a sigh from the other end of the phone "We've been here nearly an hour and have asked all your neighbours where you are. They don't seem to know who you are. Do you not even talk to your neighbours, Charley? Do you know how rude that is"

She shrugged "Not really"

"Well wherever you are hurry up and get home. We're cold and tired"

"Sure" Charley cringed, slapping the palm of her hand to her head. Her mum cancelled the call and the phone slipped out of Charley's hand, landing on her lap "Okay, we're screwed"

"You're parents are outside your apartment?" Bucky concluded a worry line fell down between his eyes, creating a crease.

"They were worried about me so decided to see me in purpose. _Ugh_ , why did I not just call them" With a deep breath, Charley brushed it aside "It'll be fine. They'll be here for a few days and then they'll leave"

"Will they know who I am?"

"No" Charley said unsurely "no. I don't think so"

"I should stay away for a few days, just until your parents are gone and then I'll come back" Bucky told her, getting up from his seat "I'll sneak into the house before your parents go in, through the window, just to get my stuff and-"

Charley reached up and grabbed his elbow, pulling him down. She had to use all of her muscles to do it but he fell back down next to her anyway "No" She snapped "They won't know who you are, if they do then you are free to run but they won't. I'll just explain that you're a friend who I met at work that needed a place to stay"

"It's not exactly a lie" Bucky thought about it.

"That's a good point. Even if they do find out they can't moan at me for lying" She smiled remembering their first meeting again. It always brought a smile to her face to think about it. She had been shit scared that night and now look at her "We'll say your name is James. They won't think that's suspicious"

He looked away to think it through but was quickly back up, smirking "I don't know. I liked the name Harry" Bucky teased and Charley rolled her eyes upwards, collecting their things together. She stuffed Bucky's pamphlets in her bag to save him from carrying them.

"It was the first name I could think of. I panicked!" They began to walk out of the canteen "Give me some credit; I feel I remained quite calm under the circumstances. Isn't that right, _Harry_?"

Bucky had to clutch his stomach to keep himself from falling over from laughing so hard.

 **A/N I feel this is kind of rushed. So I'm sorry if it's not the best chapter. Hope you enjoy anyway :D**

 **Guest: thank so much for the read. Have you watched civil war yet? It's amazing. I've got a small plan of how I'm going to fit Charley into it**

 **Lara Barnes: Thanks for the review/read :D I've got a plan for Civil war, I don't want to give too much away in the lead up to it because I know there's so many people who haven't watched it yet, so it'll be awhile before I start to write about it. I hope you like this chapter! :D**

 **Sergeantjamesbarnes: thanks sooo much for the review.i'm glad you like charley so much its nice to know her character is appreciated. i owe a lot of my writing/grammar to my editor who works really hard to make sure I don't sound like a complete idiot writing. thanks so much for the review again**


	11. Roast Dinner

**Chapter 11:**

Charley's mum was ecstatic when they finally got home. Charley had made sure to drive home slowly to give a full explanation of her parents to Bucky who was nervously looking out of the window the whole ride back.

When they finally reached home her dad was standing, leant against the wall with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently . Her mum was tapping at her door cooing at Mabel who was the other side apparently scratching to get out.

"Sorry we were gone so long" Charley wheezed, breathing hard at having had to climb the stairs "We were at the Smithsonian"

"We?" Her mum stood up a large smile on her face at the sight of her daughter that she hadn't seen in over a year. She switched from Charley to Bucky, looking him once up and down, evaluating him "Who's this, Charley?"

"My roommate" Charley explained.

"I didn't know you had a roommate" Her dad frowned "When did this happen?"

"About a month ago" Beside her, Bucky shifted uncomfortably when her dad raised a hand for Bucky to shake. He looked at it for a moment, contemplating what to do before reaching over and taking it. The hand-shake was a painful five seconds of silence. Charley ended it by pushing past them to open her door.

"My apartment is a bit of a mess" she was looking at her mum as she said it " _Don't_ complain"

"Oh Charlotte" Her mum groaned when she opened the door revealing the dump that it was "When you said you were going to live in America we thought you'd take better care of the place you were living"

"What else did you expect of me" she shrugged, dumping her bags as well as the pamphlets for Bucky on the messy table.

"I'll help clean it up tomorrow" said her mum.

When everyone was inside her mum pulled Charley into a bear hug as she felt her lungs being squished.

"Mum…" she warned, trying to catch some air.

"Oh sorry" The two pulled apart "I just haven't seen you in so long. We missed you"

"I know. I missed you too"

Her dad had already sat down on the couch and was flicking through the movies she had on the side table. "Why is wizard of oz here?"

"Because we were watching it"

"Seems like an odd choice of film"

"James wanted to watch it," Charley gestured towards Bucky who was still at the door, his back half turned and for a moment she thought he was going to make a run for it. After a pause he turned around and gave an awkward wave to signify he was James.

"Oh you're James," Alice, her mum, acknowledged "I wish I could say I've heard all about you but unfortunately I haven't heard anything" She sent Charley a look which she shrunk away from, to make it worse her mum carried on, filling her with guilt "Why didn't you call us, Charlotte. Those things falling from the sky was all over the news. Everyone was trying to call you"

"I know, I know," Charley stressed, taking a seat next to her dad. Bucky slowly entered further into the room his entire body tense as he came to stand beside Charley who was sat down "Time just kind of went by and then it never seemed important. I don't know" She winced at how ridiculous she was sounding. As an afterthought she mumbled "Sorry"

"It's not really good enough, Charlotte" Her mum scolded "Oh well, we're here now and know you're safe. There's not much else we can do"

"Oh, okay" Charley gasped under her breath, shocked her mum had let something go so easily "Well I'll get started on dinner"

It was getting close to five now and Charley was already hungry again. Although she wasn't sure what she could cook for four of them. She had gotten used to cooking for only two. She began to walk to the kitchen when her mum put a gentle arm on her elbow, stopping her.

"I'm cooking today" She smiled cheerily "Whilst you were gone me and your father walked up to the shop to buy some things. We were thinking a roast dinner; you probably haven't had one since leaving England"

"No, No, I haven't" Charley grinned, her mouth-watering suddenly "You up for that Buc-James?" She recovered quickly, slapping a hand over her mouth which caught the attention of her dad who frowned at her confused.

"You alright there, Charley?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine" She slowly lowered her hand to her side "You up for that _James_?" Charley corrected, looking up at Bucky.

He looked half amused but was glaring at her nevertheless. After a minute he shrugged and nodded "Sounds good"

An hour later Alice was serving the meals onto the plates. Bucky had hardly said a word, only answering with single word answers whenever Graham, her dad, asked him anything. His behaviour didn't go amiss by Alice who took Charley to the side as she was dishing out roast potatoes.

"James is awfully quite" She said in a hushed tone so that he wouldn't hear. Charley looked over her shoulder to the other side of the kitchen door where Bucky was sitting on the couch in the living room, Mabel curled up on his lap watching an episode of Friends. Her dad was attempting at engaging in conversation with him but to no success.

"He's just not a people's person" Charley shrugged it off, reaching over to try and take a popover only for her hand to be swatted away by her mother's plastic ladle "ow" charley rubbed her hand.

"Don't touch. There's only just enough to go around. I only brought enough for three. Which is why you should have told me" she tutted, moving away to grab the kitchen gloves and take out the rest of the meal. When putting it on the counter she had to order Charley to move things about to create space "Honestly, Charley, you need to clean up in here"

"I'm aware. I just don't have enough time on my hands"

With a deep frown her mum looked down at her "We both know that's a lie. You have plenty of time you just can't be asked. I just don't know how you can live in such a space, doesn't James mind?"

She shrugged "He hasn't mentioned it if he had"

"And what happened to your coffee table, I saw it broken in the corner"

Charley cringed. She had forgotten to clean the coffee table out from last night. This morning she had at least managed to get all of the broken glass but the splintered wood still was resting in the corner where Bucky had last put it. She made up "Oh, Mabel jumped up on it and it collapsed last night"

"Oh gosh. Is she alright?"

"Yeah, yeah Mabel's fine"

"Good" Alice smiled putting on the last piece of vegetable "I think I'm done. Graham could you clear up the table. Goodness knows it needs a good clean-up"

"On it!" Came her dad's voice from the living room. Following with a heavy sigh as he pulled himself up from the couch.

"We usually just eat on the couch"

"That's not very civilised" Her dad appeared in the doorway with the pamphlets from the air and space expedition as well as the Captain America one, that she had left on the table "Did you go see these today?" He held them up.

"Um- Yes" a panic set in Charley as she remembered the picture of Bucky in the middle page of the Captain America one. Although it was black and white and a little grainy you could easily make it out to be Bucky. She held out her hand to take it but her dad was already opening it up to read it.

"Cool. I've always wanted to go to the Smithsonian," Graham turned the pamphlet over and Charley prayed to the gods that she didn't believe in that he wouldn't open it up " Shame you went today, we could have all have gone together."

" _Graham_ , I asked you to clean the table up," her mum came to the rescue just as he was about to open it up.

" _Fine_. Help me will you Charley?"

"It's not _that_ messy" Nevertheless she followed her father out and moved the bits and bobs from the table to another equally messy part of her house. In fairness, her dad was doing the same.

When the table was almost cleared it uncovered her laptop which was under the heap of mess. Her dad reached for it and held it up, a frown on his face.

"Is this supposed to be a laptop? This has got to have been made like ten years ago"

"Its second hand, it's all I could afford"

Her dad opened it up and began inspecting it, blowing off a bit of dust as he did so. He lowered his glasses to take a better look at it as Alice entered the room with four dishes somehow balancing on her arm.

"Oh put it away, Graham. Dinner is served"

Begrudgingly he closed the laptop "I'll buy you something better tomorrow. I've heard Stark industries has started selling Laptops"

"James, dinner" Her mum called Bucky over. At first he didn't answer, unused to be called by that name but Alice called again "James!"

Bucky quickly turned around "Sorry, I didn't hear"

Her dad was still inspecting the laptop whilst shoving roast potatoes in his mouth.

"Dad, I can't get a laptop that expensive"

"I'll play. Call it a late birthday present"

Charley rolled her eyes "You just want to say you've brought something from Tony Stark" She explained to Bucky "Dad's a big Tony Stark fan, you know James is a fan of Howard Stark too"

Bucky, who was just about to put a mouthful of peas into his mouth stopped half way, the peas spilling from his fork and back onto the plate as he sent Charley a warning look. She shrugged as her dad suddenly got excited, exploding into discussion with Bucky about the inventions that Howard created during and after the war. For parts, Bucky looked lost, having not been around after the war and some of his inventions were foreign to him but he nodded along anyway. As they were speaking Charley realized he still had his gloves on, usually in the apartment when it was only the two of them he would take them off. Luckily, despite how weird he looked, neither her mum or dad picked up on it.

As the men continued their discussion Alice leant over to Charley just as she was taking a sip her drink and in a low whisper said "is James your boyfriend?"

Spitting what was in her mouth back into the cup Charley managed to splutter out "No" Bucky and her father stopped their discussion and looked at Charley with concern "I'm alright" She waved them off, her mother laughing next to her "No, where did you get that idea from?"

"Just weird that he popped out of nowhere and you're living together so quickly. I was just wondering" She shrugged, pushing her plate forward as she had finished "How did you meet anyway?"

Charley didn't look at her as she answered "At work"

"Does he work there?"

"uh-hu"

"I am quite happy you've got someone living with you if I'm honest"

"You are?" She said surprised.

"I was worried about you paying the bills all on your own, but at least you have someone here to help. I know you're in debt" She gestured to Bucky who's conversation with Graham had ended now and the two were listening in on Charley and her mums discussion. Bucky frowned at her words, looking at Charley questioningly but said nothing more.

"I was doing fine before just James is a good friend of mine that needed a place to stay"

"Oh why's that?"

"He was just moving out from home and like me was travelling but ended up stuck at a dead-end job like me" Charley lied though her teeth. She hated it. Lying to her parents was nothing something she had planned, she hadn't ever planned on them ever meeting Bucky. But she knew she had too.

"Where are you from then?" Her mother's question was directed at Bucky.

"Brooklyn" He answered smoothly after a pause. Charley gave him a satisfied smile to which he returned as they finished their dinner with mild discussion, Bucky staying out of it for the most part and only chipped in to compliment Alice's cooking.

After dinner, Bucky offered to do the dishes when Alice and Graham decided they would call it a day, tired from their journey and suffering from jet lag. Charley offered them her room saying she would take the couch with Bucky for tonight.

When Bucky was done with the dishes he plopped himself on the couch beside Charley who was picking through her selection of DVDs they could watch. She had three in her hand that she couldn't choose from, all equally as good as the other.

"Pick one" She held the three up to Bucky which were Titanic, Shrek an Back to the Future.

"I don't know… which ones the best," he shrugged, looking at all three of them closely "there's a movie about titanic?"

"There's a movie about everything these days."

"Titanic sounds good"

"It sound painful" Charley stuffed the other two DVD's back onto the side table with plans to watch them for another day and got up to put Titanic in, under her breath she began to hum the song 'my heart will go on"

"Painful?"

"You'll understand after you watch the movie"

When menu screen popped up she got up, instructing Bucky to press play and found some blankets hidden in one of the cabinets. She gathered three of them up and brought them to the couch before throwing them over Bucky's head.

Surprised he threw his hands up, dropping the remote onto the couch which startled Mabel. She froze, for a moment thinking she had startled Bucky into winter soldier mode but when she heard the soft chuckle from underneath he blankets she relaxed, laughing along with it.

"What was that for?" He finally found an exit, his face appearing under the heaps of blankets his hair messier than ever.

She shrugged reaching over and messing it up more "I felt your hair needed to be messier"

"Thanks" Bucky sighed dramatically.

"You know if your hair gets any longer you're going to have to start brushing it" Charley giggled as images of Bucky styling his hair. Perhaps with straighteners or curling tongs "Oh my god, you have to let me style your hair one day"

"Um, no"

"Whaaat" Charley pouted like an overgrown child, throwing herself onto the couch and nabbing the blankets from Bucky, throwing them over her "I'll make it look great I promise. Maybe like a man bun"

Bucky raised his eyebrows horrified.

"You'll look good" if possible Bucky's eyebrows rose even higher and Charley burst into laughter. Her laugh was loud and Bucky was looking from her amused to her bedroom where her parents were probably trying to sleep "Shhhh, your parents are trying to sleep"

"Then let me-," She giggled, whilst trying to maintain her breathing "let me- let me put your hair in a man bun then"

"You are not styling my hair into a man bun. What ever is that?"

"it's bun that you can do on men with long hair" She gestured to Bucky's hair that was long.

"I'd rather you cut it than style it"

"OKAY THEN!" Charley jumped up from the couch excited, prepared to get the scissors. She

"No, no" Bucky practically pounced on Charley to stop her from moving, his arms wrapping themselves around her waist pulling her down onto the couch with him. She let out a scream as they fell back down, her back crashing onto his chest, her hair completely in his face "No scissors" he whispered in the most intimidating voice he could which only caused Charley to laugh harder as she imagined the women from Incredibles saying 'no capes'.

"So you're just going to keep with the long hair. I mean it _does_ suit you but I'm curious as to what you look like with short hair"

Bucky shrugged "Just look at the pamphlet, there's a picture in there of me during the war"

"Oh god, my dad almost saw that earlier!" Charley cringed. She realized she was still laying on Bucky's chest. At first she hadn't even thought it was an awkward position to be in, Bucky still had his arms around her waist preventing her from falling off the couch but it was only when she attempted to get up to run and fetch the pamphlet to hide it from her dad's eyes did she realize where she was "uh…Buck? Do you mind?"

"Oh sorry" Bucky quickly released her and she got up, running to the kitchen to grab it. leaving a very confused Bucky behind "Where are you going?"

"To hide this" Charley fumbled about trying to put the pamphlet into one of the cupboards in her living room. When she sat back down she realized the movie was already ten minutes in.

"Ahh, we've missed so much of it already"

"I remember reading about Titanic at school"

"You do? You remember being at school?"

"Yeah"

Charley gave an intake of breath as she joked "Well, they do say the older you get the more you remember. How old are you now, a hundred?"

"Only ninety seven"

"In England you get a certificate from the queen when you're a hundred. Maybe you'll get one" She laughed at the idea "That'd be hilarious"

"I still got three years, then?" When Charley nodded Bucky slapped his knee "Damn, I wanted one now" Charley burst out laughing again, this time with tears in her eyes as she practically was rocking back and forth with laughter.

She wiped her eye "Oh my god, stop. My mascara is running"

Charley had to get up and go into the bathroom to find makeup remover wipes, taking her make-up off with one cloth. She was never a heavy make-up wearer anyway.

When she came out she found Bucky watching the movie intently.

"I hate Rose's finance. This is meant to be a women he loves?" It was on the scene where Rose's finance throws the table before threatening her.

"Some guys were like that back then" Charley said, curling up into her blankets.

"Yeah… don't I know it" Bucky said darkly.

"You remember people like this in the 40's?"

"Too many men were like that" He glared at the TV screen "I remember having to shove many of them away from Beci"

"Oh so you were one of those gentlemen, were you?"

Bucky smirked "If you say so"

"You're remembering a lot more recently" she said offhandedly, pulling the blankets up further.

Bucky nodded in agreement "Yeah the museum definitely helped. Thanks"

She shrugged "No problem"

They settled into silence as they just watched the movie. Mabel jumped up half way and slotted herself between Charley's and Bucky's legs. A few minutes later Charley got up to grab a glass of water for herself and Bucky and when she got back it was the infamous ship scene of Kate Winslet on the edge of the ship.

"Woah, woah," Charley ran to the couch, carefully putting the drinks down on the side "We cannot watch this movie without doing this" She brushed Bucky's legs out of the way leaving room for her to climb up onto the couch and stretch her arms out just as Rose did. The instrumental of 'my heart will go on' playing perfectly in the background. She turned around to face Bucky who was looking at her like she had grown two legs.

"What are you doing?"

"Get up here" She practically barked at him. Confused and half amused Bucky stood up, her back to his chest.

"What are we doing?" He repeated.

"You're Jack"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes I am serious. This is serious stuff" Charley laughed. With a deep sigh, Bucky hesitantly held onto Charley's arms, linking their hands together. She felt him stiffen when Charley pulled him closer so there was barely any gap between their bodies "Neeaar farrrr, wherever you areee" she sang along with the instrumental, feeling Bucky laugh, his breath tickling her neck.

Her face grew red when Rose leant in for a kiss with Jack. She had forgotten about that part. The two did nothing, just standing there swaying. Finally after what felt like an eternity and the scene was coming to a close Bucky asked "So why are we doing this again?"

"I don't know it's just a thing you do whenever you watch Titanic" begrudgingly charley pulled apart from Bucky and threw herself back down onto the couch and covered herself back up with the blanket.

Half an hour later the movie was coming to its climatic moment as the ship had been hit by the ice burg. The panic on the ship was rising as men, women and children ran everywhere.

For the past ten minutes, she noticed Bucky out of the corner of her eye keep opening his mouth to say something but promptly closing it again, turning back to the film. After the third time he did it Charley sighed and tore her attention away from the screen but instead focused on Bucky.

"What is it?"

Bucky looked down sheepishly having been caught but nevertheless answered "Your mom earlier mentioned something about being in debt. It just-"

Charley knew where this was heading "Buck, don't worry about it. I'm doing fine. Mum just stresses out about it"

Bucky shook his head "If I'm being a burden to you. Tell me, I'll leave-"

Charley glared at him to shut him up "Don' . " She growled through gritted teeth "I love you being here. In fact if someone offered me a million dollars right now but it meant I wouldn't be living with you, I would say no" She stressed being totally serious. Bucky meant so much to her, she couldn't believe how dull her life was before he broke into her store that night. She imagined her life right now would be very different. For one, she wouldn't even _be_ in America "I'm not going to lie I am running tight on money at the moment but I'll cope"

"If you need money I can get it" Bucky sat up straighter.

"Through stealing?" Charley raised an eyebrow. When Bucky didn't answer she knew her guess was right. He had broken in her clothing store alright, what was to stop him breaking into another one for money. She gathered that was how he was living before he moved in with Charley "No, you're not that person anymore, Buck"

"I just want to help you out"

"I know," Charley smiled at how selfless he was being, "But you being here is all I need. So, don't worry about it"

"You sure?"

"Sure"

She smiled smugly, knowing she had just won yet another fight.

Her feet was hanging out of the edge of her blanket. She grabbed a fistful of it and pulled it over to cover her cheeks, a large portion of the covers falling off Bucky as she did so.

"You got enough there?" Bucky challenged, smirking.

"Not really. I think I need more" Charley reached over and completely pulled off what was wrapped around Bucky and threw it over herself. Bucky let out a chuckle of amusement.

"You're not going to win this won."

"I win everything" She stuck her tongue out, trying to tuck the sides in so Bucky couldn't get hold of any of it. However, Bucky had the upper hand as he found a hanging out corner and grabbed it with his metal fist "That's not fair! I have a disadvantage" she tugged as Bucky locked his metal arm in place, the covers slipping from around Charley as she desperately tried to grab onto it. "I feel this is slightly cheating."

"It is" Bucky agreed. With all of Charley's might she held onto the blankets but Bucky gave one small tug and they were now in his hold, all of the blankets were over him "I win"

"Now I'm cold" She was wearing black pyjama shorts that only went mid-way down her thigh. In an attempt to get warm she huddled up closer to Bucky, grabbing the small amount of covers available to her and throwing it over herself. Laughably it only covered one of her knees.

"Come here" Bucky chuckled, pulling the covers over her so she had more "Happy now?"

"I'm content for now" She shrugged. The titanic was just about to sink and Rose and Jack were holding onto one another before they hit the water.

The rest of the movie they sat and watched in silence. When the credits came up Charley was amazed to look up to find Bucky with watering eyes.

"Are you crying?"

"No" Bucky hid his face away "I just wasn't expecting _that_ to happen"

"It was a sad movie, I suppose"

"I get what you mean about it being painful. How are you not upset?"

Charley shrugged "I dunno, I don't really get all teary eyed over movies… unlike you apparently" She mocked. The credits were still rolling as Charley contemplated what to do next. She knew Bucky wouldn't sleep, not with her beside him, unless she managed to convince him too. Which she was planning on. But how?

She gave a yawn, stretching up, reaching over for her drink and taking a sip of it "I'm tired" She said sleepily.

"You can go to sleep, you know" Bucky told her.

She gave him a look "I know you won't sleep though and that's not very fair. We've both already had a sleepless night last night and I don't know about you but I'm ready to collapse"

"I've gone longer without sleeping" Bucky said as if it was no big deal.

"No, if you're not going to sleep we'll pop in another movie. I have enough to keep us going the whole night" Charley knew she would probably end up falling asleep unconsciously if she stayed awake much longer. She was surprised she was able to go a whole night last night without sleep but if Bucky was awake she would force herself.

"Charley-"

"There's Shrek here. This is a classic-"

"Charley-"

"Yes?"

"Go to sleep"

She rolled her eyes "I'm not going to sleep until you do" She told him "Infact I'm going to stay here awake until I see you snoring"

Bucky gave a groan, leaning his head back against the couch and running a hand through his hair getting it out of his eyes "But what if I have another nightmare"

Charley reached over the other side of the couch where her water gun was still laying. When it was in her hands she gave it a shake hearing the swooshing sound of water inside "Look, I'll spray you with this if that happens"

"And you're not going to go to sleep any other way?"

"Nope" She grinned, popping the 'p' "And I have work tomorrow so you had better do as I say or I might end up collapsing at work and that's just embarrassing"

"But it's always so hilarious when you embarrass yourself!" Shot back Bucky. Nevertheless he had rested his head back against the cushions of the couch. There wasn't enough room for the two of them to lay down unless they were practically on top of each other so they had to settle for laying curled up, which for Charley was fine but for Bucky it looked awkward and uncomfortable.

"I'll try to sleep for you" Bucky groaned, resting his head back and finally closing his eyes. Charley smiled at how peaceful he looked when his eyes were closed. She knew he wouldn't go to sleep straight away so reached for her phone and played flappy bird.

Half an hour later she had managed to beat her high score, almost giving a victory dance when she realized Bucky was fast asleep beside her, his chest rising a falling in a harmony.

"Told you I always win" She laughed to herself, laying in a fetus position on the couch, falling asleep before her head even hit the couch.

 **A/N Thanks for all the reviews!**

 **Girlyflower: Thanks so much, I'm glad you're liking it so far. Here's your update :D**

 **Sergentjamesbarnes; Can I just say I really love your username. It's great! But thanks so much, i'm sure there's many other reasons you get up everyday but knowing this fic is one of them brings a smile to my face. It's nice to know the fic is appreciated :D**

 **Maz: haha, I love that we get the films over here first (tho if I was American I feel I would get so annoyed) Although I feel like I can't post anything on tumblr about it for fear of upsetting anyone.**

 **Lara Barnes: Thanks for another review and yes, yes he was thinking of her. How ever did you guess :P I'm still contemplating when to put their first kiss in, every chapter I'm like 'should I do it now?'.**


	12. Hachis Parmetier

Chapter 12:

The following morning, Charley was running around in search of her work clothes already with the mind-set that she was going to be late for work. Again. But for once she didn't care. Bucky was still asleep on the couch, his head now lulled to the side without the support of Charley's head that he rested on throughout the night.

"You two were up late," was the first thing her mum said to her when she exited Charley's bedroom, with bed hair and a neat dressing gown on. Charley gave a cheer when she found her work clothes hanging up on the back of the door in the bathroom "were you watching a film?"

"Titanic" Charley told her, her toast popping from the oven her hand grabbing to snatch. Her eyes, however were trained on her watch, knowing she would was supposed to clock in for work in literally ten minutes. She didn't really have time to eat but she was hungry.

"Does he sleep on the couch all the time?"

"Yeah, I don't have another room"

"That must do his back in" Alice suggested. She was opening up all of her cupboards, frustratingly search of something. When Charley asked she replied "Where's all of your cereal"

"I don't eat cereal, you know that"

Her mum sighed nabbing a piece of toast and putting it in the toaster "Me and your dad have arranged a table for tonight at a restaurant. It's quite a fancy one so be prepared to dress nicely"

Charley's head snapped up to face her mothers. Crumbs from her toast fell from her mouth "What?"

"We've books a table at a fancy restaurant. We did it last night after we went into your room, a table for four. We thought James would like to come along as well"

"Mum you didn't have too" Charley's eyes darted from Bucky and her mum. She could just about see him from the kitchen. The door was wide open and Bucky was not lying flat out on the sofa, his arms draped over the side "I don't know if that's a good idea or not…" she already knew what Bucky's answer was going to be. He barely left the apartment and when he did he made sure to have his cap on, fully hiding him. _She,_ on the other hand, would love nothing more than to go out with a meal with Bucky.

"Why not?" her mum frowned piecing her with questioning eyes.

"I don't know if Bu-James will want to do that"

"Why wouldn't he? We're paying for it all"

 _Because he's an assassin on the run from government agencies and is worried about being caught_ Charley thought in her head.

"He doesn't own a suit or anything"

"You've still got time to go out, maybe after work"

Charley groaned. She looked over at the clock knowing she didn't have time to argue about this with her parents. She was going to be late if she didn't move her ass now.

"Okay, when he wakes tell him to meet me after work"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Charley was pacing back and forth all day. She had been on the cashier during the mid-day heist, folded five tables of jeans, been on changing room duty, had seven people asking her to run up to the stock room. Suffice to say her heels were aching.

When five O'clock rang and she saw Bucky waiting at the front door with his cap over his head she almost ran into his arms with joy at the thought that she wouldn't have to go to work for another two days. Which meant more time to spend with Bucky and her family.

She linked arms with Bucky as she met him halfway. The tips of his lips turning upwards at the sight of her.

"ugh, I cannot stand another minute of this place" Charley complained a little too loudly, just as she passed Aiden who looked up from the rack in which he was folding a t-shirt to glare. She rolled her eyes, knowing he could do nothing about it now she was out of work hours "I'm guessing my parents told you about suit shopping"

"Yeah- Charley – about that…"

"I know, I know" She cut across. They walked outside the smell of fresh air hit Charley full in the face. It was a hot day, the sun was reflecting off on the windows which reflected straight in Charley's face. She squinted to block it out in an unattractive manor, moving closer to Bucky to block out the harsh light with his enormous form "I know what you're going to say and if you really don't want to go it's fine but my parents have reserved a table for us and I would really, really appreciate it if you came. Just so I don't look like a twenty year old going out for a meal with my parents"

She gave him her best puppy dog impression, widening her eyes and pouting. Bucky looked down at her with conflict. His hand that wasn't linked with charley's went to his head to swipe a hand through it only to realize his hat was in the way. Finally, he gave a deep sigh and nodded.

"Thank-you!" She squealed with delight, wrapping her arm around his tighter squeezing "It'll be great, I promise. It'll probably be a really fancy restaurant which is why my parents were telling me about getting a suit – I'm sure you look great in a suit thought - I'm not sure how I feel about it being a fancy restaurant, they probably have meals on there that I don't understand half off. Also, it means I'll probably have to get a dress too. Although I'm sure I can find one at the bottom of my cupboard-"

"Will there be CCTV there?" Bucky asked putting an abrupt stop to Charley's ramblings. She hadn't quite realized how much she was talking, her brain had no filter at the moment a little nervous for tonight "I don't want to risk anyone finding me, we've been lucky so far"

"I don't think so" she shrugged "I don't really know where we're going if I'm honest"

"I just want to be sure"

"You won't be able to wear your cap" She mentioned off-handily. She had assumed he had already realized that but still his jaw tightened "It'll look too odd and we want to fit in if anything"

"I really don't know if this is a good idea" She hadn't realized she had linked her arm through his metal one until it tensed underneath her, the metal jarring against her skin. She didn't mind, it wasn't tight enough to hurt but it was uncomfortable.

"Maybe we can buy you a top hat" Charley suggested to lighten the mood but Bucky was shaking his head gruffly.

"I don't want to put your family in danger"

"You won't be" she scoffed as they took a turning down a narrow alley that lead to the suit store. Charley had walked passed it several times but had never needed to go inside until now. Bucky, who was seemingly against the idea of going out was willingly following her lead "Because no one will notice you. It'll just be a nice evening"

"I don't know-" he didn't get to finish his sentence before she cut him off.

"Stop" She snapped. Realizing she must have said it a bit harshly as Bucky looked down, wounded, she added softer this time "Trust me, please. We'll have fun eating unnecessarily small meals that are way too expensive for my pocket"

Bucky let out a breath of air, his shoulders relaxing.

They reached the store where mannequins inside the shop window had a row of suits on, each a different colour, but Bucky already had his eye on the black one.

"This is going to be so weird" Bucky announced as Charley nudged his back forward slightly, edging him towards the door when his feet was stuck to the ground stubbornly.

"Why?"

"It's just weird; I've not worn a suit like this in over seventy years"

"I still find it _weird_ when you say that" She reached for the door, glad when Bucky was following.

It was an old shop from the outside but inside it was newly decorated with wooden polished floors, lights shining down on all the mannequins and expensive price tags drooping down from the labels. That was what was worrying about, she wasn't sure her purse could afford this. She could ask her parents for the money but then she would have to tell them that Bucky didn't own a suit and that would probably raise questions.

There was an older gentleman already in there but he was paying at the cash register for a suit that draped over his arm. When the cashier handed over the change he spotted Bucky and Charley standing awkwardly in the shop door. Charley wasn't sure how these places worked. Did they go and look around for a suit of their own, or were they given suits to choose from? From the many movies she had watched she thought it would be the latter but she didn't want to do anything in case she was wrong.

"Hello, how can I help you?"

"Hi" She gave a small wave "We're just looking for a suit"

"Come right this way" Bucky was lead into a small fitting room and Charley was instructed to wait outside. She saw Bucky give her one last look of desperation before the door closed. She took a seat on fancy woven chair, that pricked at her bum. With a few uncomfortable shifts she finally gave up and decided to stand up instead.

To kill time she took out her phone, smiling when she remembered her background picture was of her and Bucky. Whilst Bucky's face wasn't in clear view as his cap covered most of his face his smile was still obviously showing. It was like he had been caught in the moment of laughing at something really funny as she took the shot.

Minutes passed by before the door finally reopened. Bucky appeared first, his hands tucked inside his pockets as he awkwardly shuffled out giving Charley a nervous look, awaiting her reaction. She could just about see the top of a pair of black gloves.

Charley froze at the sight of him. He had tucked his hair back behind his ears, for once giving a full view of his face. His suit was traditional black with a bow tie. To say the least, it suited him. It more than suited him. For once Charley was speechless, only mildly aware that she gawking at him her mouth hanging wide open.

"Does it look terrible?"

"No, no. Wow. It looks… wow, _okay_ , um, wow." She tumbled over her words trying to find the right words to describe him "No, no. it looks great. More than great, um… yeah." with all her will power she managed to pull her eyes away from his body.

"You sure?" Bucky asked, looking down at his shoes, "it's really weird wearing stuff like this."

"Yeah I hate evening dresses too," Charley moaned "I'm so used to wearing comfortable, baggy clothes everything else is just too tight" She looked down at what she was wearing now. Whilst her work trousers and shirt was on, she had brought a baggy hoodie to go over the top of it. It was the same one she wore every day after coming home from work.

"It's not that. I just feel like I shouldn't be wearing such normal stuff like this."

"Well please continue, it looks good."

At this Bucky looked up and smirked, "You think?"

"uh-hu," Charley pursed her lips as she began to distract herself looking at the Shirts they had up on the hangers, trying her hardest not to look at him before she made an utter fool of herself "I think you look more than good"

"You think?" Bucky repeated. Although she wasn't looking at him she knew he was silently chuckling to himself.

"Okay shut up. You look good let's leave it there" As she looked up she tried to move her hair so it covered most of her face knowing it was burning red "You don't think my parents will notice the gloves, do you?" She asked trying to divert the conversation. Bucky took the gloved hand out of his pocket and looked at it. The sales person gave him an odd look before busying himself behind the counter.

"Yeah it should be fine. Do they look odd?"

"No you make it work somehow."

"Are you paying by cash or card?"

"Card" Charley took out her purse but Bucky raised an arm to stop her.

"You don't have to pay for this if it's too expensive. I don't have to go tonight."

Charley's face fell "You are _not_ getting out of this one, Buck," she handed her card over to the cashier, trying to avert her eyes from seeing the price tag, "I want you there."

Deciding not to argue, which was probably a good decision; Bucky gave one nod and moved back into the changing room to get into his regular clothes.

When he was done they exited the store with his suit in a bag, folded over his arm.

"Do _you_ need a get something to wear?" Bucky asked as they crossed the street. Bucky led the way, knowing the way back to her car like the back of his hand.

"No I've got something. I think I'll wear the one I brought last Christmas," Charley cringed at the memory "I brought the dress at last year's Christmas party at work. I'd only been working there for a few months, I didn't have many friends, and there was this guy there that I really liked. I basically went totally over dressed as everyone else was just in Christmas jumpers and it turns out he was gay anyway," Charley buried her face in her hands as she walked but removed them when she heard Bucky's laugh. He threw his head back laughing. He had to hold his chest in order to keep his breathing in check.

It was always such a shock to Charley whenever he laughed. His usual expression was sour and dark but when he let himself smile he was a completely different person.

"It's not funny" Charley said whilst chuckling along with him "I could barely face work for months"

"It wasn't that Aiden guy was it… your Boss?"

"Oh god no" Charley almost gagged at the thought "Never"

They reached the car that was sitting in Charley's favourite spot where she didn't have to pay for parking and was in a secluded area that wasn't at risk of being hit. She fetched her keys from her pocket and quickly checked the time. It was half five now. They had an hour and a half before they had to be at the restaurant.

In the car Charley turned up the radio letting her playlist of Avril Lavigne continue. On the second song Bucky began humming to one under his breath. It was 'Smile' or her go to song in the shower whenever she felt like singing. She had sung it about fifty types full volume since meeting Bucky so she wasn't surprised he knew it.

When the song ended Bucky said, "I'm going to find a way to get money for you"

"What?" Charley frowned, reaching over to turn the radio down, "What do you mean"

"It's not fair that you're having to pay out for so much. How much did the suit cost?"

She inwardly cringed. She cast a quick look over him when the traffic lights turned red, "I'm not going to lie I didn't even look at how much it costs"

Bucky rolled his eyes and sighed "-Because you knew it would be way too expensive"

"No- well yes – but no" She shook her head "Look, I don't care. You don't need to feel like you owe me cause you don't"

"I can get money easily if you just let me-"

"No."

"Charley…"

"Bucky, honestly it's fine."

"I could get a job"

Charley almost stopped driving she was so shocked, "You want to get a job?"

"No but it would make me feel like I was helping you."

"Where would you even get a job."

"I don't know," Bucky sucked in a breath of air, "I just want to live a kind of normal life"

Charley thought for a second as silence filled the car. She was aware of Bucky staring at her, pleadingly asking to help her with money. But she couldn't think of anywhere that Bucky would be comfortable working-

"I know!" Charley grinned, spinning around to face him "There's a box room at the back of my store. It's got like heavy lifting and stuff in there, it's kind of boring but you wouldn't have to deal with customers or anything and we would be close by"

"That actually sounds like an alright idea"

"You don't have to though," She assured him, taking the turning that lead into her road "It's honestly fine"

Charley pulled the car into a free parking space outside her house. Her parents were already dressed and ready inside and they hurried Bucky and Charley o get ready themselves. Bucky went for the bathroom whilst Charley darted to her room, quickly grabbing her make-up bag along the way.

Through the door her parents were telling her how their day had been. Apparently they had been to the Zoo and had a 'really lovely day'. She stopped listening after that and focused on getting her dress on. She heard the door to the bathroom click open telling her Bucky was ready and the sudden chatter from the other side told her, her parents had decided to conserve with Bucky. Feeling she had to save him she hurried up putting her clothes on. It was a simple black dress that was mid-knee length. The dress was quite revealing in the cleavage area but she shoved a nice jacket to go over the top of it.

Quickly opening the door she clumsily fell through it. Heels were never good when in a rush and when you're well known for tripping over thin air. Charley brushed a curl from her eye as she steadied herself catching eyes with Bucky who had his metal arm leant on the sideboard, he jolted at the sight of Charley catching onto her lamp which tumbled to the floor. The crack of the bulb followed.

"Do you just hate my lamps or something?" Charley laughed as her dad reached down to pick up the fallen lamp.

"You look gorg- great," Bucky gulped, changing his wording last minute as his eyes darted from Charley to her parents. He ran a hand through his hair only just managing to tare his eyes away from her. Charley stood there awkwardly not sure how to take the compliment. She thought she hadn't look _that_ great. She barely had any make-up on and in her quick rush only had time to half curl her hair but her face blazed red anyway.

"Thanks" She looked down at her feet, suddenly feeling nervous. Why was this feeling very much like a date. An odd date with her parent there but she had momentarily forgotten about them. Sucking in a breath of air she said, "Shall we go then"

"Right" Her dad clapped his hands together "Let's get moving"

In the car Charley once again put on Avril Lavigne. The car was packed. It only had four seats and her mum and dad had been shoved in the back.

Luckily the journey was quick and they found the restaurant with ease with her dad direction. Charley recognized it. She had driven past it every day for the past year but had never ventured inside. The name was something French which Charley couldn't even pronounce.

As they walked up to the restaurant she pulled her dress down and stuck close to Bucky, feeling out of place. Waiters opened the doors for them, leading them to their seats. It smelt delicious, and she sucked in a smell letting it sink in. Luckily no one took any notice of them, busy with their own chatter and she felt Bucky relax under her arm. He had decided to keep his hair combed back, which she was glad. It suited him and definitely suited the suit and bow tie better.

A chair was pulled up for her which she gratefully took a seat on as Bucky ungracefully plonked himself down. She chuckled, knowing it was usually her to be the ungraceful one. booklet Menus were placed carefully down in front of them. However there was no need for a booklet as there was only five things available to eat. None of which she understood.

"The moules Marinieres sounds nice" her mother commented looking through the menu. Charley raised an eyebrow not understanding what that meant. She looked over at Bucky expecting to find him looking just as confused as she was but he was looking through it with ease.

She nudged Bucky's shoulder. Trying to be discreet she held up her menu, "What the hell is a Hachis Parmetier?"

Bucky sniffled a laugh, "See now who's become the one who doesn't understand things"

Charley pursed her lips not liking the idea of being the only one to not understand what was on the menu and having to ask for help. Nevertheless she murmured a quick, "help" to Bucky.

He chuckled "The Hachis Parmetier is a mashed potatoe over beef" he said with an almost perfect accent that if she didn't know him she would be convinced he was French.

"That doesn't sound too bad" She considered it "I didn't know you knew French"

Bucky gave a cough and whispered, "I know a lot of languages"

"How many?" Charley asked, intrested.

"I don't know"

"What are you two talking about behind the menu?" Her mother's voice sounded. Slowly, Charley lowered the menu to reveal their faces. Her mum had her eyebrows raised whilst her dad was still looking through the menu with a frown. Charley was glad to see her dad wasn't sure what half of it meant at the very least.

"Just discussing what we're planning to eat"

"oh, well what are you planning on getting? I like the idea of a Boudin Noir Aux Pommes" Charley didn't even bother asking what that was "What about you?"

Clearing her throat she read from the menu "A Hatches Parmeter" She tried but failed to get the right pronunciation. When Bucky raised a hand to stifle his laughter she glared at him "Wait, let me try again. Hachis Parmeter"

"Close"

"Hachis Parmetier"

"You got it"

Satisfied she placed her menu on the table going over the phrasing in her head again so she didn't get it wrong with the waiter asked.

Light conversation began to start around the table and this meant more lying as Charley's mum, Alice began to question Bucky about his life story. The two worked together to create a story. It seemed Bucky was now an aspiring writer who had been kicked out of his home in Brooklyn because his parents disagreed, and had met Charley at work who offered a place to stay. Bucky and Charley shared a glance as their lie played out until her parents started asking about what things Bucky was writing.

Charley raised her eyebrows at Bucky, deciding to let him take this one. Subtly he glared, nudging her leg on the table. It had been _her_ that suggested he was a writer, just to spice their story up.

"Uh, just about a…" Bucky clicked his tongue and Charley leant her head on her hands waiting for Bucky to answer "A-"

Charley felt bad for making him suffer and came to his rescue "You told me it was a detective drama, right?"

"Yeah" Bucky gave a breath of relief "It's not finished yet so…"

Charley's parents nodded enthusiastically.

The waiter came round and Charley smugly managed to pronounce the word perfectly, sticking her tongue out at Bucky who rolled his eyes. Half an hour later their food arrived and they tucked in.

As dinner passed by she noticed Bucky's attention being caught elsewhere. He had barely touched his meal and became distant from the conversation. She tried to see what had caught his attention away, but he was only looking at a man who was sitting alone, facing opposite them. His head ducked speaking hurriedly through a phone. It didn't look suspicious.

"Is everything alright?" Charley leant over and whispered to him when her parents started bickering over something.

"It's nothing" Bucky shook his head, sending her a warning look "I'm just going to go to the toilet"

Bucky rose from his seat and Charley frowned as he departed from sight. Growing increasingly more worried when the man on the phone, eyes followed Bucky's disappearing form. His eyes growing wide.

"Are you alright, Charley?" Her mum pulled her from her trance. Charley gave a quick nod making the same excuse as Bucky, saying she was just going to the loo.

Quickly, she followed until she reached the toilets. She couldn't just very well walk inside, Bucky could have literally only needed the toilet and she would be worrying for nothing. For a few minutes she waited outside the toilets, her eyes trained on it preparing someone to open it. But no one did and after ten minutes of waiting she grew increasingly worried.

Carefully she pulled open the male toilet door, not daring to take a step in.

"Buck, you in here?" There was no answer. Trying not to panic she stepped inside to find it completely empty.

Gulping she quickly walked out of the room not wanting to be found in male toilets, thinking perhaps maybe she had missed him walking to the toilets. Maybe he was back at the table talking with her parents about his _new_ book.

She passed the man on the phone who had now finished and was sitting tensely. Was he Hydra? Did he know who Bucky was? Or was he just a regular man who recognized the Winter soldier from pictures.

She wanted to go over to him. She wasn't sure what she would do. Bucky had Cleary got panicked by something and decided running would be the best option. But without her? He could have at least told her.

Before she could do anything, however, a group of men with guns entered the building. Everyone gasped. Charley felt her mum pool her dress down, causing her to fall to the floor.

"What on earth," Alice shrieked.

"Everyone stay calm," A man from the SWAT team called over the crowd. His voice was barely audible but Charley was listening intently for anything they might know on Bucky "We need to evacuate you from the area"

"Is there a bomb?" She heard one man say. The crowd began to quickly get up heading straight for the doors. Charley was torn. She wanted answers, and the man on the phone was quickly hurrying through the crowd… maybe she could find him and-

"Charley, come on," Her mother urged, pulling her by the arm.

"I don't know where Bucky is."

"Bucky?"

"James," She quickly corrected, letting herself be guided by her mother's hand. Her dad was close by with a hand on her back.

"He'll find his own way out. He'll be fine. Just let them do their jobs," her dad tried to reassure her "If they see him they'll get him out."

That was what was worrying her. A crowd formed outside of the restaurant. It was absolute chaos. The cops were trying to get everyone in an orderly fashion. There was a queue of people ready to complain. People practically stood on top of each other. Charley's arm was constantly being bumped. Flashing lights blinded her. Apparently ten police cars had been called and three ambulances. All because someone had a suspicion that they had seen the winter soldier.

Her mum pulled her into the corner where there was a bench.

"He'll probably be here in just a minute, hun."

But minutes past and Bucky didn't show up. Not that Charley expected him too. Not when everyone was suddenly after him again. Part of her was glad he had noticed when he did, he got away. But he could have said something.

Over the noise of the crowd one cop stood up and managed to tell them they were beginning questioning.

This caught Charley's attention.

"Maybe they'll know where James is."

Panicking, she jumped up and grabbed her parents arms "We need to go, like, now."

"What?" Her dad frowned when Charley sharply took their hands and dragged them through, uttering a few 'excuse me's' to people who had sat on the floor.

"Where are we going?"

"I'll explain everything at home."

"Charley, you're worrying us. James is still here. Shouldn't we be waiting for him?"

When they reached her car she was about to take her car keys out with shaking hands but her dad reached over and took them from her, "Tell us what's going on Charlotte. Is it about James?"

"I don't know if…" she wasn't sure if she should tell them or not. She wanted to. The evening had been going to well until now, she had finally thought Bucky was in a place where he was relaxed. He was even suggesting getting a Job and because a single man recognized him he had to run away from it all again. Deciding to tell them the truth Charley took a deep breath in to try and stop herself from crying. She felt the pull at her eyes as it took all her willpower to not let any tears fall. She was just hoping that her parents would understand Bucky wasn't a bad person, "His names not James" Manically she pointed behind them "He's the one they're after"

"What are you saying?" Her parents eyes widened "What have you gotten yourself into."

"Nothing" Charley shook her head, "Nothing dangerous because that's just it. He's not, he's not dangerous."

"Who is he?" her dad warned deeply.

"So you know a few months back there was the helicarrier crash"

"How could we forget…"

"Well…" She bit her lip, thinking of how to phrase it. She couldn't just say 'I've been living with the winter soldier this entire time'. That would just sound bad "Do you know who James Buchanan Barnes is?"

Both her parents shook their heads.

"Captain America's best friend…" she tried again, surprised her dad didn't know who he was.

"Okay then." This made it ten times more difficult "There was this guy called the winter soldier who was Captain America's best friend. You might have read about him on the news, he was part of the helicarrier crash. He was brainwashed by Hydra for seventy years and forced to kill people and-"

Her mum slapped a hand over her mouth to stop the gasp escaping, "Are you trying to say that that is James"

"Yes I am but…" charley hurriedly put her arms on her mum's shoulders before she screamed out, "He's not bad, I promise you. His memories have been wiped, I was trying to help him settle back in. It started off as him just eating take away with me at work some nights, but then I felt sorry for him so decided to let him move in with me and we became friends and it just escalated from there"

"We need to go tell someone about this," Her mum looked to her dad in support, "Maybe the police can help"

"NO!" Charley grabbed her mum and prevented her from turning around, "Please don't, I don't want him getting in trouble and if you do _I'll_ get in trouble"

"Is he the guy on the news with the metal arm?" Her dad narrowed his eyes. Charley nodded surprised to find how calm her dad's voice was.

"Look, has he ever done anything that made him un-trustworthy?"

There was a pause before slowly her mother shook her head.

"I suppose not."

"There we go then. He never meant any of this to happen."

"It's not as simple as that Charlotte!" Her mum scolded harshly and with a quieter voice continued "You've been harbouring a killer under your roof for over a month"

"He's not…" she was going to say he wasn't a killer. Although technically he was, she refused to believe it. He was a completely different person, "He's not. He was brainwashed to become one. Don't you understand he was a victim of it all, he doesn't deserve this" She pointed at the ambulances that were slowly driving off, realizing there was no injuries.

"Okay, okay," Her mum helped up a hand, "Why are you telling us only now"

"Because you would have reacted badly!" Charley accused "Like you are not!"

"We're not reacting _that_ badly."

"I just need you to promise you won't tell anyone."

"Charley this is breaking the law."

"I know"

Her parents gulped and after a few seconds her mums head slowly nodded. She reached over and took her daughters hand.

"You sure he would never hurt you?"

"Yes, he would never"

 **A/N**

 **Guest: I'm glad your liking Bucky/Charley's relationship. Sorry I took so long to update but here it is :D**

 **Crazehfreakbasasseh: thanks so much for the review! I hope you enjoy this chappy just as much as the others**

 **Queenylime21: civil war is amazing, I've seen it 6x so far and I still can't get enough. Thing is Civil war isn't until like two years in the timeline so I've got two years to kill. Yay! Lol. More time to develop their relationship I suppose.**

 **Artemis7448: thanks so much for reading and reviewing! I hate it in fics where they speed things up, I made that mistake in my last fanfic for a different fandom. I literally made them be together within the last 5 chapters. Worst mistake of my fanfiction life. Lol. I hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

 **Guest: I feel it's a necessity to do the titanic scene whenever it's on. Lol. And thanks so much :D**

 **WesOfTheGlass: ahh thanks so much for reading and reviewing. I hope you enjoy this chappy :D**


	13. An Empty Stomach

The car was completely silent as they drove home. Charley kept her attention on the road, trying to ignore the pressing stare she felt beside her from her mother, knowing she was buzzing to ask question but had enough tact to know Charley didn't want to talk. So kept quiet.

At some point Charley had leant over and turned the radio on. Curiosity getting the better of her as she wondered about Bucky. After turning it on, however, she wished she hadn't. They were detailing the Winter Soldier's past events. There wasn't a single mention of Hydra which made it look like everything Bucky did was of his doing. Before her last nerve was triggered she snapped the radio off, gripping the steering wheel an extra tighter.

"I really don't like this, Charley."

Charley rolled her eyes, wondering how long it would take her to make a comment, " _Mum_ , don't start-"

"How can I not? I'm concerned about you."

"You've got nothing to worry about," Charley assured, quickly sending her mum a warning look to drop the subject, knowing if they continued it would spiral into an argument which she wasn't interested in starting. Her whole concern focused on where Bucky was at the moment.

"Nothing to worry about!" Her mum countered back her voice going an octave higher as she threw her hands up in the air, "You've allowed a killer into your home, Charley. He's manipulating you only to kill you later."

Biting the inside of her mouth, Charley made sure to keep her voice low, "Don't act like you know him. He's not a killer."

"This radio is saying he's countered for dozens of death."

"Stop it!" Charley fired out, "Just because they're saying it, doesn't make it true. Everything he did, wasn't his fault. Hydra was behind it all they brainwashed him, forced him to do everything" She had to take a quick breath of escape realizing her chest was about to implode from lack of air.

"Are you sure he hasn't brainwashed _you_?"

"He hadn't brainwashed me, Mum!"

"When you came to America we thought you were going to be doing something with your life over here. Get on with the career you wanted. You always wanted to go into film directing but you're barely able to cope financially, living in a small apartment with a roommate who is a murderer and I've not heard you speak of one friend you've made here"

"Bucky's my friend."

"Don't be naive. He's a murderer."

Charley scoffed, tears sparking at her eyes. With as much bitter as she could muster she spat out "I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment"

"I think maybe it's time you move back to England after we go to the police to sort this out"

"We are _not_ going to the police and I'm not going back to England. Try and make me-"

" _Charlotte_ "

"Everyone just calm down. We can discuss this at home." The voice of reason that was her dad spoke from the back. He had his hand on Charley's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, which calmed her down instantly and reminded her to keep her concentration on the road.

It was a dark night, but a busy one at that. The street lights were on and she could see people on their phones and cars drive past in a hurry, probably all under the belief there was going to be another incident like the helicarrier crash with the news the Winter Soldier had been spotted.

"I'm just worried about your safety," Charley's mum continued. To her credit, she seemed to have calmed down too, "He's dangerous"

"True," Charley couldn't deny it. She knew how much damage that metal arm could do, her broken lamp was the result of it "But he would never hurt me, not unless he was brainwashed which is what I'm trying to tell you. He's been under the control of Hydra for the last seventy years. He had nowhere to go."

"So you were being a good Samaritan. I understand…" Her mum ducked her head to look at her hands where she was fiddling with the hem of her dress.

"I don't think you do," She pushed further; "he's the best thing that's happened to me since coming to America. I can't just abandon him now"

"Graham?" Her mum faced her dad, "You're quite?"

Her dad took an intake of breath before saying "I think if Charley trusts him we should be able to trust her enough to make her own mistakes."

"And if that results in her death!"

"Mum!" Charley shouted.

"Everyone just calm down!" Her dad's voice rose above the rest of them. Charley put her foot on the pedal, taking her anger out on the car. Within minutes of silence they made it home. Charley slammed her car door shut and quick walked the rest of the way back to the apartment (because even though she was angry, running was still not worth it), leaving her parents behind her.

When she opened her apartment door her cat came running at her to greet her. It was unusual of her and she had only started doing it recently ever since Bucky had moved in. She presumed Mabel only did it because she loved Bucky so much and wanted to greet him instead of her. She dropped her handbag on the side table, casting a sad eye over at the sofa where Bucky slept. She had hoped he would be here, maybe this would be the first place he would come after leaving her at the restaurant.

But there was no sight of him.

Picking up her cat and with quick strides she made her way into her room where she closed the door behind her, hearing her parents make their way into her apartment, the door shutting. She plopped Mabel down on her bed, putting her ear up against it as her parents started to talk.

"Just leave her to calm down."

"Why aren't you more panicked over this, Graham?" Her mother stressed, "she's living with an assassin"

Her dad sighed loud another for her to hear it from her room, "As Charley said, he's a victim in all of this". Charley closed her eyes and took a moment to mumble a quite thanks to her dad, "Only a few hours ago we were debating over whether they were together or not. They're clearly close"

"But-"

"Just trust her judgement, alright. Let her sleep it off and we'll help her look for him in the morning."

"Help her look for him!"

"Just let it go for now."

Her parents went silent after that, the soft mumble of the TV was heard instead. She felt kind of bad for taking her room away from them, forcing them to sleep on the couch but she just wanted some time to be alone, giving her the chance to think of where Bucky could have gone and where she would search for tomorrow.

She turned on her phone, taking a moment to stare at her phone background before going to her notes section and making a list of places she thought Bucky might go. That was, if he hadn't left Washington yet, which she would be severely pissed if he had without saying goodbye.

Out of curiosity, she googled news under the search 'The Winter Soldier'. She was glad to see they had called off the search, the guy who made the call admitting he may have just been 'seeing things' and the cops stating 'people shouldn't panic, but make a call if they see anything suspicious'. She fell asleep after that, curled up at the foot of her door too exhausted to get up and get into bed.

The following day she was up at the break of dawn, despite going to bed late. She found her shoes that were tucked under the foot of her bed, which she only just saw within the mess of her room. She was surprised her parents even accepted to sleep in there last night.

When she opened her doors her parents were already up. Her dad searching through her fridge in the kitchen and her mum sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. Eye contact was made and instead of heading for the door like Charley had planned she took a seat next to her mum.

"I'm sorry," Her mum said, popping her coffee up on the table, "Your father and I talked and he made me see that if you can trust him, then I can too"

"Thanks, Mum," she leant over and gave her mums hand a squeeze.

"I'm guessing he didn't come back last night then"

"No," Charley replied quietly.

"We'll help you find him. Do you know where he might be?"

"I've got a list of places," Charley took out her phone and opened up the notes section, "I need to go to work first, tell them I'm not coming in"

"Why don't you just call them," Her dad appeared in the kitchen door a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.

"I want to check if Bucky's there first. I doubt he will be but it's worth a shot"

"Why don't you just wait for him to come back," Her mother suggested offhandedly "He's been gone less than a day, give him time"

Charley shook her head. The truth was she was scared he wouldn't come back. Last night, he was clearly spooked enough to leave without saying anything. Without even uttering a single goodbye. What if he didn't come back? For all Charley knew he was out of the city already.

They all packed into her car and travelled to Charley's work. On their way they drove past the restaurant. It wasn't as crowded as the night before but there were still police vans parked outside with dogs. Yellow tape went around the building restricting anyone access.

They arrived at Charley's work. When they went in they split up. Her dad stayed outside to check the area whilst her mum searched around the aisles. She knew they wouldn't find anything but it was worth a look. Charley went up to her boss, which was unfortunately Aiden. If he didn't allow her to have the day off she was having one anyway, even if she _did_ get fired for it.

"You're early," Aiden said looking at his watch when he caught sight of Charley walking towards him, Charley's shift didn't start for another three hours "For once" He added as an afterthought.

"I'm not coming in today."

"And why's that?"

"A family member's gone missing, I've got to find them"

"Why don't you just call the police?"

Charley shook her head "it was less than 24 hours ago, they don't do anything until then."

Aiden cocked his head to the side, considering it before nodding "Fine. Just make sure you make up the time. Management is pissed and we're all being questioned. You'll have to come in soon for that."

Charley frowned "Why's that?"

"A load of clothes went missing last night"

That sparked an interest in Charley "They were stolen?"

"They wouldn't usually be concerned with it but apparently enough was stolen to fill a whole person's wardrobe and they have no idea how it happened. There was no sign of a break in"

She gulped but said no more. If Bucky had stolen enough to fill a whole wardrobe it meant he was planning on leaving for quite awhile. But she might have just been jumping to conclusions. It might not have been Bucky at all.

"Hopefully I'll be back in soon" Charley said, rushing away quickly before Aiden could change his mind and met up with her mum who was around the men section.

"Where to now, hun?"

"Uh, there's a few abandoned buildings I want to try"

When they got back to the car, before Charley could start the car up to get moving her phone buzzed from her pocket. She didn't usually get many texts so excitement buzzed through her as she quickly reached down to get it. Perhaps Bucky had found her number. Her parents were watching her closely as she turned it on.

It was a private number. As fast as her hands would move she opened up the text and let out a disappointed sigh when it wasn't from Bucky at all. However, she kept on reading surprised by who it was from.

 _This is the Thomas Circle Retirement home. Margret Carter requested a meeting with you ASAP._

Practically throwing her phone down on her mother's lap she hurriedly turned the car on, turned the wheel and went in the opposite direction she was planning on going down. Her mum frowned and picked up her phone, reading the message to herself.

"Who's this?"

"It's Peggy Carter. She's Captain America's… girl?" That was the right word and she thought Peggy would hit her if she ever called her that.

"She's in a… _retirement home_?" her dad questioned.

"From the 1940's, Dad. She's in her nineties I'm assuming"

"Oh," Her dad said, "So do you know her or something?"

"Bucky did. Once"

"Are you friends with Captain America too?"

"I wish," Charley mumbled, flicking her indicator on as she took a right almost hitting her car because her head was in the clouds as she imagined what it would be like to be friends with avengers.

It took them half an hour to get to the retirement home. Her dad was questioning her about Captain America, his fanboy geek turned on as he was excited about meeting Agent Peggy Carter. The rest of their journey was filled with him firing questions about her and it sounded as if he was almost _happy_ that Bucky was the Winter Soldier, much to her mother's disapproval.

They arrived outside the retirement home and signed in and were told to wait in the waiting room as Peggy already had someone visiting. Her parents finished signing in too and took a seat beside her.

"I think I should go up alone," Charley told them after her dad had picked up a beauty magazine for the sake of killing time. Dramatically her dad dropped the magazine and looked at her with wild eyes.

"But does that mean I won't get to meet her."

"I feel you would be slightly distracting, Dad." She laughed, realizing this must be where she gets her geekiness from, if that sort of thing was genetic.

"Do you think this is about Bucky then?"

"What else could she want to see me about?" Charley shrugged, "I'm not exactly someone she would just ring up to say hi to, for a conversation. Cause she's Peggy Carter, founder of Shield and Captain America's old flame, and I'm just me"

"Good point," Her dad agreed, grinning cheekily.

" _Dad,_ " she half glared "You're meant to tell me I'm special."

"Look, I'm not going to lie to you. The day you tell me you're Captain America's girl then that'll be the day I'll accept you for who you are," he joked along, smugly crossing his arms.

"How about I tell you I'm Captain America's best friend's girl. Would that do?" as soon as she said it she cringed inwardly. Was that how she saw herself? She felt her already red face turn redder as she tried to brush past what she said giving an awkward cough.

"It'll have to do, I suppose," Her dad shrugged dramatically.

The door leading the retirement rooms opened and a man appeared, heavily built and blonde. It took Charley a second glance to realize who she was staring at and her stomach dropped. He walked over to the reception and signed his name, saying a small goodbye to the receptionist who was practically swooning in her chair before turning around and sending Charley a friendly nod as he left the building.

"Was that… Captain America?" her dad broke the silence after they heard the door slam shut "The actual Captain America?"

"Yeah it was," The receptionist offered, still staring at the door where Steve Rogers just stood "he comes here sometimes"

"Alice, I love you but I think we need to get a divorce" Charley's dad mimicked the look of the receptionist. He leant over to Charley and whispered, "Don't worry; I'll be Captain America's new girl"

Charley snorted just as the receptionist told her that she could make her way through.

"Charley" Peggy greeted her with a smile "I didn't think I would see you so soon"

Charley made her way further into the room. Nothing much had changed about the room since her last visit last week. Except it seemed there was more photos in there now. Maybe it was because this time, Charley was taking more notice of them instead of being memorized at the sight of meeting Agent Peggy Carter.

"I came as soon as I got your message. I'm looking for Bucky"

"I assumed you would be which is why I didn't think you would come so soon, but I'm glad you did" She gestured to the chair beside her. Charley took a seat but couldn't help but smile at the thought that Captain America's butt had been on this chair too. She managed to wipe the smile off of her face before Peggy noticed however.

"Was that Steve Rogers that I saw just come out?"

"Yes it was," Peggy nodded as if it was no big deal "He comes and visits sometimes, he's only here now because of the recent news yesterday about Bucky. He's here trying to see if he can pick up any leads" There was a twinkle in Peggy's eye as she stared at Charley "It's not too late to go run after Steve, you can tell him you know Bucky. Try and find him together."

"There is nothing I would want to do more" Charley said, smiling. The idea of her running after Captain America sprung to her mind, although she doubted the could ever _catch up_ to him even if she ran her fastest, "But it's up to Bucky to decide whether he wants him involved or not"

Peggy nodded understandably, "he came and saw me last night and told me everything that happened"

Charley leant forward, excited at the possibility that she would find out where Bucky was, "What, Bucky?"

"Yes" She said "He wanted me to tell you he was sorry for leaving."

"That's not what I'm pissed about;" Charley rolled her eyes, "I'm annoyed he didn't _tell_ me he was leaving. A goodbye or a warning would have been nice."

"He said you would say that" Peggy smiled knowingly. The wrinkles under her eyes became even more apparent "But he said he didn't want you getting caught up in this mess. He thought it was Hydra after him and was worried you and your family might get hurt"

"This is bullshit" Charley groaned but covered her mouth quickly when she realized who she was speaking too. She apologized quickly but Peggy simply nodded.

"It _is_ bullshit, you're right" Peggy agreed seriously "Men always feel they have a constant need to protect us" Peggy leant forward. Despite only moving a few inches closer it seemed like the biggest exercise in the world to Peggy as she had to take a deep breath before saying "When he gets back put him in his place, please, otherwise he'll never stop with the delusion you can't protect yourself" she gave Charley a wink before settling back down, the pillow moulding to her head.

"I'll be sure to" She had quite a few things to say to Bucky, actually. "Did he tell you when he would be back?" Charley was aware of how desperate she was sounding but knew Peggy would understand.

"He told me he was leaving Washington DC for a few days," She recited, just as Charley opened her mouth to argue against this she finished, "But he promised me that he would be back."

She flopped back down into her chair with a heavy sigh, "I thought everything was going so well until all of this. He was starting to remember. A lot of it. He was even considering getting a job"

"Would that have been wise?" Peggy interrupted, her brow rising with concern.

"No, probably not," Charley considered, "But he was acting normal. He was starting to let go off everything that happened and relaxed a bit. I wish I'd never pushed him to go to that stupid meal last night." Charley buried her face in her hands and let out a groan, frustrated with herself.

"He will be back," Peggy offered, reaching her hand over to take Charley's in a comforting manner.

"I know," Charley breathed, accepting her hand and giving it a small squeeze. With a smile she asked, "Did he tell you where he was going?"

"No, he didn't," Peggy gave a sympathetic smile, "When I asked all he said was he was planning on staying low for a little while"

"He could do that staying at my apartment" Charley added bitterly, annoyed at Bucky for leaving the way he did, but annoyed at herself more for not getting him a phone earlier and practically forcing him to that meal. As soon as he got back that was the first thing she was doing, "You didn't say any of this to Captain America did you?"

Peggy gave a small grin "Captain America?" She chuckled at Charley's use of his superhero name, "You can call him Steve, you know"

"I know but it's weird"

"That's like calling Barnes the Winter Soldier all the time"

"Bucky's just Bucky though. It's different"

Peggy rose an eyebrow but said no more on the subject and instead answered her before question, "I didn't tell Steve anything. He came here just for a casual visit, Barnes only came up when I asked why he had come to Washington. He seemed pretty desperate though"

"He won't find him, unless Bucky wants to be found"

"That's exactly what he said"

Peggy reached over for a glass of water on her beside table but her arms, wobbly and shaky and thin like sticks, couldn't reach it. Charley got up and picked it up for her, putting it gently to her lips.

"Thank-you"

"No problem"

"Oh, before I forget. Bucky left a bag over there" Peggy nodded a head. Charley tried not to get up too quickly and come across as desperate but curiosity got the better of her but she was met with disappointment when all that was in there was his suit and a small bit of money "What's the money for?"

"He said he stole from your store again for clothes?" Peggy raised a concern brow as Charley chuckled at the memory of her first time meeting Bucky. She had been so scared that she was going to die; it was laughable to think about now, "I won't ask what that means"

"I should have taken the night shift last night" Charley mumbled to herself but stopped when Peggy, behind her, started coughing.

Panicked, Charley rushed to her side and grabbed the water again, pushing it to Peggy's lips who was clutching her chest in desperation to get some air.

"Shit." Charley let out, slamming her hand down on the emergency button beside Peggy's bed. Within seconds a nurse ran in but luckily Peggy was finally breathing again, deep concentration on her face as she contained her breathing.

After a moment she looked up at Charley, her eyes glazed over and unrecognizable "I'm sorry, are you new here?"

"It's Charley," She frowned, confused before her brain caught up and she realized it was her Alzheimer's. Bucky and her, must have been lucky the last time they met her. Lucky that she didn't forget. Now it seemed, it was a bad day for her.

"Well it's lovely to meet you."

Charley smiled sadly and looked up at the nurse who was giving her a sympathetic stare.

"I'll see you soon." Charley promised, her hand was still holding Peggy's as she gave it a squeeze before letting it go.

As she left the room she thought about Steve Rogers. Did he ever witness Peggy's memory loss when he visited? She couldn't begin to imagine what that would be like for him. She couldn't help but think of Bucky and the machine that was used to wipe his memory over and over again for the last seventy years. What if Hydra caught him again? Would they put him through that all over again? Would he forget her? The thought alone was a stab wound to her heart as she took a moment to take a deep breath trying to remove the picture of Peggy staring at her blankly, not recognizing her and with as much effort as she could muster, not swap her face for Bucky's.

Not knowing where he was, was making her nervous and knowing Hydra was still out there looking for him was making it even worse. If only she had given him a damn phone.

She met her parents out at the reception and gave them a hug when she saw them, still feeling the blow from Peggy's sudden memory loss.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just Bucky's not coming back for a little while"

"How do you know?"

"He saw Peggy last night"

"Do you know where he is?" Her dad asked as he lead them back to Charley's car.

"No, he'll be back thought." She assured herself, her dad unlocked her car for her and he offered to drive. She settled into the back, glad that her dad was taking over "How long are you here for?"

"Another five days. We only booked for a week before out flight back to England" Her mum answered.

"We just wanted to check you hadn't died from those helicarriers crashing" Her dad gave her a scolding look which Charley knew was directed at her for not having texted or called them.

"I'm sorry about that" She replied honestly "Look, I can take the next few days off and we'll go around Washington. Maybe I can even take you to the Smithsonian to understand Bucky a bit more"

"That would settle my worry a little" Her mum considered.

"Okay, we'll do that then!"

This was a genius idea. Charley thought as her dad began driving. The Smithsonian had so much on Bucky as a howling commando and it would help her parents see past the Winter Soldier side of him but rather the Bucky Charley knew. She got out her phone and called work, telling them she wouldn't be in for the next few days. They weren't happy about it but she still had extra holiday days to spare so there was nothing much they could do about it.

 **A/N I feel this kind of ended abruptly and if this is really badly written, this was kind of just a filler chapter and I'm also sorry it's been over a week since the last update. Also, i only just realized at the end that I didn't have a food to go along with this chapter so i know the title doesn't make sense. Just go with it, okay? lol**

 **Thanks to all of the reviews guys, I love reading them**

 **Sergeantjamesbarnes: thanks, I'm sure it's not the best one you've ever read but I appreciate it. I'm not really sure if the OC's decent enough tbh.**

 **Cassouminette: Thanks for reading. I wasn't really sure if the winter soldier would have ever actually learnt French but it made a cute moment so hey ho. Haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: (firstly love your username haha) Thanks so much! I'll try to update as soon as possible.**

 **Lara Barnes: sorry for taking so long to update but thanks so much for the review :D**

 **aurafxox: it's probably not going to be long until they get together (I've not actually set a chapter for it to happen yet but it won't be long. I promise). Yeah I get what you mean, I feel it's just a convention of marvel fics to get them kidnapped at one point (even though I do love that cause then you get the worried/protective character haha). Sorry for taking so long to update but thanks for leaving the lovely review! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others**

 **eyesalwaysseeking: Thanks for the review and lovely comment! I'm sorry for the long update. Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Guest: Same, don't worry. The Civil War Storyline's going to end so much differently to the movies cause I can't have Bucky going back in there. He deserves better.**


	14. Pizza II

**Chapter 14:**

Her feet were heavy as she left the airport two weeks later, after bidding her parents goodbye. The temptation to leave with them was too high as they offered to pay for a return ticket for her. But she couldn't leave now, not with a chance of Bucky's return. But she silently promised herself that if he didn't return within a month, she would take up the offer. There was no reason to stay in America if Bucky wasn't here.

It had been a good two weeks. Her parents had made sure she didn't have a moment to dwell on the absents of Bucky as they went sightseeing around Washington DC, even though most of the places they saw had become second nature to Charley. They had put off their flight home and extra week, just to make sure Charley was alright. Although she suspected a part of it was because they wanted to witness Bucky's return to make sure he really wasn't dangerous. Which was laughable really.

She felt like she had convinced them enough that Bucky was safe, however. Their visit to the Smithsonian definitely helped. The rows and rows of information about James Buchanan Barnes' heroic sacrifice was enough to make anyone like him.

Her parents parted with a hug with a small promise that Charley would call more. As she walked back to the car she realized she was going to go back to an empty apartment for the first time in weeks.

The car ride back home seemed quieter, despite Avril Lavigne being played loudly.

At her apartment building, she slowly walked up the stairs leading to her apartment. The journey up the stairs was longer than she ever remembered them being, she was half asleep by the time she reached the top, using the banister to practically pull herself up. Pulling out her keys she swung her apartment door open, lazily. She smiled proudly when she saw the immaculate, clean state of the room (all to her mother's credit of course). Everything was tucked away in its place and she could actually see the floor.

She threw her keys down on the side, looking around for something to do.

Her heart practically stopped, when she saw the fully open fire escape window, letting the cold September air in.

It wasn't like Charley to leave it open. She rarely touched that window and with summer coming to an end and the bitter weather beginning to take place, Charley doubted she would have opened it. Especially not as wide as it was.

Out of impulse she grabbed the nearest thing she could find. Taking off her Trainer and clutching it in her hand, steadily walking through the apartment and freezing where she stood.

"Is there anyone there?" Charley called out, inwardly shouted at herself, realizing that was probably the worst thing to do when in a situation where someone is in your house. Movies where characters had shouted out the same thing, resulting in their immediate death ,came to mind.

There was a clang from the kitchen causing Charley's grip on the shoe to tighten as her heart rate sped up at worryingly fast pace.

Her eyes were trained on the door as a shadow appeared first. Instinctively she lobbed the shoe at the intruder, closing her eyes upon impact but when she heard the soft 'ow' followed by a breathy laugh. She finally peeked her eyes open.

Bucky was standing there. In one hand he was holding a frying pan and at his feet was her shoe and a bottle of oil, which she had obviously hit.

"We have to work on your self-defence," Bucky groaned, putting the frying pan on the side counter and rubbing his arm, taking a step forward. Charley's heart doubled in take at the sight of him, so shocked that her legs had lost the ability to move. After Bucky was done rubbing his arm, he finally looked up at her.

A deafening silence followed as Bucky scratched the back of his head, awkwardly. Shifting his weight from one foot to the other before Charley found the use of her legs, suddenly launching herself at him and entwining her arms around him.

An awkward second past where he stood there motionless before she felt the feel of both his arms engulf her small form. Despite wearing a woolly t-shirt she could feel the metal arm make contact with her lower back as he clutched onto her. She tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder. The smell of soil and dust hitting her nose but she didn't dare pull away in case this was a badly misunderstood dream.

"I'm sorry I left," Bucky said. If he wasn't mere centimeter away from her, she would have missed it, "I know I probably could have handled the situation a little better"

Charley pulled away, "Too right you could have," She looked him up and down, taking him in. The scruff around his chin had grown and he looked as if he hadn't taken care of his hair either. She reached up and let a hand fall through it. Bucky was staring at her, piercingly and she suddenly realized their close proximity, pulling away Sharply, "I'm angry at you, you know"

"I know," Bucky nodded "Which is why I was going to cook you something, but I forgot how the modern day oven works"

"Food doesn't fix everything"

Bucky scrunched up his nose in debate, "Actually, it does with you"

"True," She reasoned, finding it difficult to argue with his logic no matter how much she wanted to. Bucky turned to go back into the kitchen when Charley said, "Are you back for good?"

Bucky nodded, "If you still want me."

Charley smiled. Of course she still wanted him, "And you're not going to leave again"

He shrugged, "I shouldn't be."

"Promise?"

She saw Bucky's shoulders visibly slump. "I can't promise that," Bucky sighed, slowly turning around, "If I had to choose to save you and your family or running away. It's an easy choice"

"Don't play that card with me. You don't get to ' _protect'_ me" Charley said fiercely, air quoting the word 'protect'. She raised her voice, "Next time you could at least take me with you, or tell me where you're going. I've been worried to death wondering where you are. If Hydra had gotten you I would have no idea. Do you know what that's like?"

Bucky groaned, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration " _You_ don't know what it's like to be on the run. Constantly looking over your shoulder. I hate this life. I hate myself. I hate it and you're the only good thing that's come out of it and I don't expect you to know what it's like because I wouldn't wish that on you. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, let alone you", Bucky stepped back, trying to take control of his voice that had risen to equally match Charley's "I'm sorry if I'm concerned about your safety. You just don't know how to protect yourself out there!"

"I don't need protecting," She insisted again. Standing up straighter. She had to go slightly on her tip toes to reach even Bucky's shoulders, before realizing she looked like an idiot and fell back down flat on her feet. Bucky gave her a look as Charley raised her voice, "I don't!"

He rose an eyebrow a slight smirk appearing on his lips as he said simply, "You just threw a shoe at me…"

"That stunned you. It would have given myself time to get out. It's a good tactic"

Bucky started to laugh. The corners of his mouth curving up to create wrinkles under his eyes as he had to hold his stomach, tilting his head back. His laugh always made a joyous feeling spread through Charley, but this one in particular sparked something within her. The tension in the room faded. Perhaps it was because she hadn't heard it for a while and forgot how much she missed the sound.

"What were you even doing this whole time?"

"I was trying to find leads on Hydra"

"Bucky!"

"I didn't get far!" Bucky raised his hand defensively.

Charley's eyes widened "You can't just go looking for Hydra. What if they found you and got you again?" The thought alone made Charley feel sick in the stomach as the possibilities began to run through her mind, "They could have wiped you again". Once again the image of Peggy's faded eyes appeared before her. Completely blank. That could have been Bucky with her.

"I didn't get close enough," Bucky admitted. He slumped down onto a dinning chair, which she was glad to see was now completely accessible due to the limited mess on her floor now, "It was a dead end. I shouldn't have done it, I know that. But I realized I was putting you in danger being here. You _and_ your family and Hydra was the reason. I had to find them before I came back"

At the mention of her family, Charley felt a string being pulled at her heart. But now wasn't the time to think about them. Bucky was finally in front of her and even though she was pissed at him, it meant she wouldn't be alone when she was feeling so lonely.

She grabbed the chair beside him and took a seat next to him, curling her legs up on the chair so her head balanced on her knee, wrapping her arms around them.

"Why did you come back then if you didn't find them?"

Bucky scrunched his nose up, "I guess I missed you. Maybe…"

She gave a small laugh but instantly turned serious again, "Going after Hydra is not going to solve anything," She said, her arm stretching out on the table. She stopped when her hand and his almost touched, a centimeter gap between them, "Leave that to people like Captain America… _who_ I _actually_ saw the other day"

This sparked an interest in Bucky as he looked up with eyebrows raised "You did?"

"Yeah, I saw him in the reception at Peggy's retirement home," She leant forward as if she was about to tell and incredible secret, " _And_ he actually smiled at him. Captain America noticed my exists for a few seconds." Charley flicked her hair back that had grown in the recent weeks and was now at a more flick able length, reaching down to her shoulders, "We connected, ya' know"

"You sound like you have a crush on Steve" Bucky mumbled, his right hand scratching at her table with interest.

"Who doesn't have a crush on Captain America?" Charley daydreamed, dramatically resting her head on her hands and looking as if she was seeing the sunset. When she looked back at Bucky she saw his glum expression and quickly nudged his shoulder, "Nah, he's not my type" she said, "Although if we're going by what my dad says. He thinks Captain America is everyone's type"

"So, if hypothetically Steve wanted to go out on a date with a random civilian and that just so happened to be you. What would you say?" he wasn't looking at her but rather taking a keen interest of his metal hand which he was flexing in and out as a distraction. If she didn't know any better she would say he was jealous.

"HM," Charley thought, "probably tell him to sod off. I've already got a super soldier at home to worry about"

This seemed to brighten Bucky's mood as he smiled softly and looked up from his hand, leaving it motionless on the table. It was Charley's turn to suddenly nervously pick at the table as a question came to her mind.

"You didn't happen to find any other girls on this Hydra search of yours?"

"Jealous, doll face?" Bucky perked an eyebrow up, smirking.

"No, jealousy usually occurs after I find out there was another girl," she laughed before realizing what he said and her face fell seriously, "Did you just call me _doll face_?"

"I figured it was something my past self would have done, thought i'd try it," When he noticed Charley's mouth scrunched up in disgust he gave a shaky laugh, "What?"

"No, no to pet names, I'm afraid."

"What's wrong with pet names, _darlin'_?" Bucky placed emphasis on the 'darlin'', smirking as he teased her.

"They're so cringe worthy."

"Whatever you say, _sweetheart._ "

"Stop" Charley stared deadpan as Bucky continued.

" _Babe, sweet cheeks, honey, pumpkin-_ " he continued to list them whilst Charley's stare moulded into a glare, but it only caused Bucky's smirk to widen " _sugar lips, muffin-"_

"Did you just call me a _muffin_ ," Charley's eyes widened in horror, "Rude."

"Do you want me to start in different languages?" he teased "сладкий пирог, красивая, _безумно красивая_ "

She pouted and gave a groan in response, lifting her head and then dramatically dropping it back down to rest on her knee in defeat, "This is so unfair, because that actually sounds really sexy and I know you're saying the most cringe worthy names to me"

"ты самый красивый человек, которого я когда-либо встречал" he smirked as Charley's frown deepened.

"What did you say?" to Charley's annoyance Bucky shrugged and simply chuckled which only provoked Charley further, "don't make me google translate that"

"I said the apartment's too clean and I don't like it"

"I love it. Everything is so organized," Charley looked around. She doubted that was what Bucky really said as he changed the subject way too smoothly, but nevertheless she was glad because it gave her a chance to gloat about the cleanliness of her apartment. It looked completely different. All the magazines crowding the table had been tidied away in draws. Before, It had gotten to the point where her apartment was so messy that she didn't even realize half her floor was wooden rather than carpet. The furniture, Bucky had broken, was now completely gone and there was a bag in the corner of rubbish Charley had decided to chuck out, knowing she would never use them. She almost had a heart attack, though, when her mum was about to put the water gun in there. She had to be quick to snatch it away from her and explain. "How can you not like it?"

"It's not very Charley-like"

"I take that as a high insult" Charley gasped, placing a hand on her chest where her heart was in mock pain, "Look, it's going to last for about a week before I begin to make it messy again because there is way too much responsibility in keeping an apartment clean, so treasure how it is now."

"Do you want me to go get a camera or something, we can frame the picture?" His voice dripping with sarcasm.

"ha-ha" She laughed. Their conversation drew to a close and Charley looked around for something to do. She was starving. Most of her day had been dedicated to getting her parents packed and taking them to the airport. There wasn't much time to eat and now her stomach was beginning to feel the effects "I'm glad you're back" She said earnestly "I missed you"

Bucky smiled "Missed you too, _doll face_ "

Charley grinned and moved closer, wrapping her arms around him. He responded, keeping his metal arm resting on the table. She was so small that his other arm cocooned her. As he rested his chin on her head, she snuggled closer, the contact comforting.

"Are you still planning on cooking?" Charley broke away from the hug, looking through the doorway to her kitchen to see he had pots and pans out everywhere, which made her nice clean kitchen look like a tip again, "Wow, you're insistent on making this place a mess again. I admire your determination."

He shrugged, "I just don't like it so clean. When I came through the window I thought I had gotten the wrong apartment. This just isn't you."

"Thank you for appreciating me for my messiness and all" Charley placed her hands together in a mock prayer but broke away when she was laughing so hard "so what are we eating?"

Bucky took one look back in the kitchen or more specifically at the stove and narrowed his eyes as if trying to figure out how to work it again. To his credit, it had been a full two weeks since she had taught him anything about the modern cooker. He considered it for a moment longer, shaking his head, before looking back at her, "I was thinking we could order pizza"

"Perfect," Charley jumped up and reached for her phone to order her usual of one pepperoni and one regular.

Half an hour later they were settled onto the couch, a slice of pizza in each of Charley's hands as she switched between her regular and pepperoni slice whilst Bucky dusted his hands off only just finishing his first slice. The TV was switched on in the background, an episode of friends playing.

"I don't know when I'm going to see them again," Charley admitted, finishing the pepperoni slice.

"Your parents?"

"My whole family. I mean I can skype them but it's not the same-"

"Can't you book a plane ticket to get over there?" He suggested, readjusting himself on the couch to look at her.

"I can't afford it and my parents offered but I can't just up and leave. I've taken so much time off work these past two weeks I don't think Aiden will let me have another one" Charley stared glumly at her pizza, suddenly not feeling as hungry anymore "I don't know why I'm getting so upset over it, I've spent the last year away from them."

Not knowing any words that could possibly comfort her, Bucky placed his uneaten pizza back in the box and shuffled upwards so that he was directly next to her and wrapped his metal arm around her, "If you want to move back there, don't let me stop you. It's your family"

"I don't want to move back there. I like it here," _She liked it here when Bucky was with her. Other than that it pretty much sucks,_ she thought, but didn't say that knowing he would feel some sort of responsibility for her not going back to England, "I'm glad you're here. I didn't want to be alone. I'd gotten so use to the apartment having people in it"

"I'm not going anywhere. I promise"

"Not until some other person recognizes you, anyway…"

" _Charley_ " Bucky stressed.

"I know, I know" She closed her eyes wanting to savour this moment, with her in his arms and also Bucky was surprisingly comfortable to lay on despite his metal arm, "I just want to know your safe. When I went to see Peggy she had a memory relapse and it just got me thinking, I don't know what I would do if you ever forgot about me. Just if you ever need to go off again, stay in contact with me. I don't know how, just do, and for goodness sake, don't forget me."

Bucky didn't respond but she felt the nodding of his head as her own head was tucked under his. The movement was a comfort to her, knowing that they had at least reached some agreement that she wouldn't be left in the dark like this time.

She fell asleep in that position. Bucky hadn't realized until the end of the friends episode, when she was gently breathing and he pulled back a bit of her hair to see her eyes shut, peacefully. She had a habit of falling asleep on him and whilst he would be happy to spend the night watching over her, he really was tired and he couldn't trust himself not to fall asleep. For her own safety, he knew she couldn't stay there.

As carefully as he could he slid out, away from her, and gently rested her down on the sofa, cringing when her eyes flickered and he expected her to open them. After a minute of wondering if she was going to wake up, she settled back down again. Bucky went back to what he had been doing and reached under her legs to pick her up, bridal style and as cautiously as he could, he carried her into her bedroom.

Despite the rest of the house being clean her bedroom was clearly an exception. The bed sheets were messily over the place which made it easy for him to place her on the bed and effectively pull the sheets up around her.

"Night, doll," he smiled.

He couldn't help but chuckle when Charley let out a groan. "don't call me that," she said as she turned on her side and snuggled into her pillow.

Bucky was still smiling when he went back into the living room and fell onto the couch, thinking of Charley as he fell into the most peaceful sleep he had had in weeks.

 **A/N thank you so so much for all these wonderful reviews. I was so surprised by how many there were just know they all made my day and I'm sorry for not updating sooner :D**

 **Jessenia22: thanks so much, I'm glad you're liking the OC! Hope**

 **Bitch Ate My cupcake: aha, thanks so much for the review, sorry this one took so long to update but I hope it's as good as the others. A kiss may or may not happen next chapter… I feel it's time.**

 **Imperfection: thanks for the review!**

 **KnightOwl247: aww thanks. Seriously, that gave me so much reassurance you don't understand. Whenever I'm writing anything I tend to feel like it's crap but thanks so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others! And it's my pleasure giving you a sleeping Bucky.**

 **Kris: Thanks for the review. Your update is here! :D (ps. Sorry for taking over a week)**

 **Artemis7448: See I always wondered why hydra never went after Peggy. I always had a headcanon that the winter soldier was sent to kill her because why wouldn't she have been a target? She was part founder of S.H.I.E.L.D., I'm pretty sure she had some enemies. Good theory :D**

 **Guest: Thanks so much!**

 **Bad Dancer: Sorry for taking so long to update. Your review made my day. I hope you enjoy this chappy as much as the rest! :D**

 **Estelle Lumene: haha, I feel Charley's dad's love for Captain America is very relatable lol. Thanks for the review!**

 **Lizziecats: replied on PM because your review was so lovely :D**


	15. English Breakfast

**Chapter 15:**

The following morning, Charley woke to the smell of bacon shifting over to her nose, her nose twitching every now and then at the delightful smell. Her eyes fluttering open when it became to much to resist. If there was anything that wakes Charley up in the morning, it was the knowledge that there was food waiting for her at the breakfast table.

She reached over for her phone seeing it was half nine. She had the afternoon shift today and knew she would have to get up now if she wanted to make the most of her day.

With a struggle, she heaved herself out of bed and slowly clomped into the main room, finding Bucky nowhere to be seen. Instead she heard the clanging of pots and pans from the kitchen. Following it, she found Bucky. He was leant over her computer screen, which was propped up on the kitchen counter. There were two empty plates sitting out beside him. She looked past his shoulder and saw him looking at a full English breakfast recipe. At the site her lips automatically turned upwards, her mouth watering, missing the taste of a full English breakfast, having not had that in years. It wasn't exactly a popular dish over in America. Hence the name.

As she went to enter the room, her foot caught the door frame. She held out her arms to catch herself but there was nothing to hold onto and she went flying in. Bucky swivelled around and only just managed to catch her before she crashed into the heated stove.

"Whoa," Bucky breathed, his arm under hers, picking her up, carefully, and putting her back on her unstable feet, "That was a close one"

"See, this is why I need you here," She pointed at the stove at what could have nearly been a severe burning, "So I won't fall and cause a catastrophic mess"

"I told you I'd catch you," he replied, referring to the conversation they had at the Smithsonian. Charley smiled at the memory before looking up. They were close, very close. So close, infact, that Charley could feel Bucky's breath against her cheek. She pulled away sharply quickly covering it by going over to the stove and checking out what was cooking and how well he was doing it. Call her critical but she liked her English breakfasts done to perfection.

In the grill was bacon and sausages. She licked her lips, excitedly, "So what is all of this?"

"That is a…" Bucky turned back to her computer screen, reading it, "English breakfast? Is that what you call it?"

"Yeah, it is but you didn't have to do this. What's the occasion?"

"And I'm sorry occasion" Bucky winced as he said it, "and I thought seeing as your parents are back in England you'd like something English to remind you of there. Seeing as you say you're not moving back anytime soon"

"Buck-" Charley was lost for words. It smelt wonderful. She couldn't believe Bucky had done this for her. Only yesterday he was looking at the stove with confusion on how to use it and now he had done all this. There was eggs cooking on the top too. They seemed about ready and Charley got a spatula and scooped the eggs up onto each plate. It was only then that Charley realized these hadn't been in her cupboard beforehand, "Did you go out and get all of this?"

Bucky let a hand fall through his hair, "There was a corner shop that had it all, just down the road. There was no CCTV there, I checked and I was quick. I didn't wake y-" Bucky was cut off abruptly by a bounce of hair covering his mouth as Charley pounced on him, wrapping her arms securely around him, fresh tears in her eyes.

"You really did not have to do this." She wasn't sure why she was crying. Maybe it was the bacon, she had been known to get emotional over food in the past but, she thought, this time, it was probably to do with something else.

"It was nothing,"Bucky shrugged it off and gestured to the laptop, changing the subject smoothly, "I like your new laptop. When did you get it?"

Charley followed his eye sight. Her dad had brought it for her, during the two weeks Bucky had been away. Her old one was becoming a slow and it had given her dad the excuse to gloat because he had brought tech from Tony Stark, which apparently made him feel 'important'. She had refused at first, knowing the computer was probably worth more than her apartment but her dad had insisted, saying it was a late Christmas and birthday present from the past year. She had kept the same password, not letting go of the hope that Bucky would return shortly.

"My dad brought it," She swiped a hand across the metallic feel, "it's so much better than my old one"

"I like it but it's harder to use," She understood that. The desktop was a lot more confusing and complex than a regular laptop. Being Tony Stark tech it had to be upgraded and she supposed these sort of laptops were meant for computer genius', not for everyday use like Charley planned to use it for. Bucky went back over to it and began typing away. he was slow on it, reminding her of her grandad whenever he was in front of a computer. She was about to laugh until she spotted one of the tabs he had open.

"What's this for?" She pointed at it and Bucky sighed, clicking on it to open it up.

Pictures of all of the howling commandos appeared, a timeline of their lives. The timeline had been scrolled to the end, each of them with a death date stamped onto them.

"They're all dead?" Charley concluded, looking up at Bucky to see his reaction.

"I was thinking, maybe like Peggy was, they'd be alive still. I thought seeing one of them might jog my memory but the last one died seven years ago," He shrugged it off to cover his disappointment, she placed a hand on his shoulder in comfort, "guess I missed my window"

"I know I keep asking this but, why don't you just find Steve," She suggested and regretted saying it as Bucky's shoulders visibly stiffened under her hand, "He seemed genuinely concerned about finding you after the events at that restaurant. He's probably still looking for you. He _might_ even still be in DC if you're lucky. I know if my best friend was discovered to be alive after seventy years I wouldn't give up easily." Bucky came to mind then, she didn't really have any friends outside of Bucky in the USA, all of them still in England and it had been so long since she had spoken to them, they probably had forgotten her.

"I don't want him to see the monster I've turned into"

"okay…"Charley accepted, glad to finally have an answer as to why Bucky wasn't planning on seeing Steve. She had been wondering for a long time why Bucky was resisting meeting Steve again. She wasn't surprised at his reasoning, infact she expected an answer like that from him but she was glad he was being honest, "But just for what it's worth I think you need to shut up and realize you're actually pretty amazing. And also… finish cooking my bacon; I'm genuinely fearful it will burn under your watch"

Bucky rolled his eyes "Are you doubting my cooking abilities?"

"Yes." Charley replied honestly with a deadpan expression, "yesterday you didn't know how to use a stove. Now you're cooking me breakfast. I feel in terms of character development this is unrealistic"

"I'm a quick learner" he shrugged, turning back to the grill and checking the bacon and sausages. Apparently they still had a bit more to cook as he stood up straight again.

"Maybe you should find out where they're buried." Charley said, nodding to the laptop, "We could pay our respects, if you wanted."

"That'd be a good idea"

Bucky turned away from the stove and back over to the laptop and began typing away. She trusted he knew what he was doing on there, he didn't need her leaning over his shoulder telling him exactly what to type in. So instead, she went over to the stove and saw the bacon was pretty much done and reached in to pull it out.

As she reached for it, her hand accidently collided with the heated dish. She swiftly pulled away, dropping it back into the grill with a clatter. She let out a yelp as Bucky spun around to look at her with deep concern as she clutched her hand.

"Fuck," Charley hissed, drawing her wound to her mouth and sucking at it, trying to relieve the burning stinging pain, "Apparently I still injure myself even when you're here!"

Bucky appeared beside her, quick to abandon his google search, "What happened? I turned my back for two seconds!"

"I thought I'd be useful and get the bacon out," Charley nodded at the bacon that was starting to burn in the grill. Bucky took control and took her by the elbow, taking her to the sink and turned on the cold water before gently pushing her hand under. She let out a hiss as soon as her hand made contact with the cold water, it stung and she was quick to withdraw it but Bucky carefully pushed it back under giving her a scolding look.

"How can you be so clumsy?" he chuckled when she pouted, giving up trying to resist the cold water, "I just don't understand it. You're not even a _little_ bit clumsy…."

"You find it charming, admit it?" She played along, but just as she said this, she leant her arm back to rest against the counter and missed it causing her to fall into it. Bucky couldn't help himself burst into laughter as Charley tried to recover, standing in the awkward position she fell in as if pretending she was meant to fall this way and glared at Bucky when his laughter only increased.

"Very charming…" Bucky's voice dripped in sarcasm.

"I was meant to do that"

"Sure you were…"

Charley's glare hardened.

"Just stay there for a second," He instructed, going back over the stove where she saw him take out the dish with no oven gloves but simply with his metal hand and popped it on the top.

" _That_ is not fair," She childishly pouted, "I barely touch it and get a burn and you just go full in with your metal hand," She pointed at it "That thing is way more useful than you let on"

Once he had securely placed all the things on the side he went back over to Charley, "let's take a look then"

"It's fine," She insisted, removing her arm from the cold water and taking a look for it herself. There was a red gash going along her arm where she had his the plate. Bucky leaned over and looked himself, giving an intake of breath and began shaking his head disapprovingly.

"That looks like it _might_ scar" Bucky told her and Charley gave a groan in response, "it'll look good though" he said with an attempt to put a light spin at the situation. She admired his effort, "Your first battle wound"

Charley glared, "From burning myself due to my own stupidity?"

Bucky tilted his head to the side, contemplating, "If i'm honest, I think most of your injuries will be self inflicted" he smirked and Charley wanted nothing more than to wipe it off but couldn't find any defense, knowing he was probably right. She grabbed her plate from the side swiftly, regretting it when she brushed her burnt arm against the counter but bit her lip trying not to show her pain.

She went to the dining table and plopped her plate down, fully preparing on golfing this meal down in one. Like a child she sat down at the dining table, sitting crossed legs and her elbow rested on the table. Bucky followed only moments later with his own plate and a bag of frozen peas. As he passed Charley he gently picked up her elbow and put the frozen peas under it. The cool sting meeting her skin but numbing it after only seconds.

"It probably should have stayed under the water longer," he explained, taking a seat opposite her.

Charley smiled at his considerance. She really didn't mind the burn. She _did_ mind how completely off balanced she was sometimes, but if it made Bucky smile it was all worth it. Even if she _literally_ got burned for it.

Half an hour later their conversation had turned back to Charley's new computer as she tried to explain the interface to him. Whilst he knew the basics of a computer, Stark's modernized computers was a little more complex but he was beginning to understand it.

"This reminds me," Charley got up from her chair and tripped over to the draws where she had hidden most of the mess in her apartment and opened up one of them to find a flip phone hidden beneath multiple magazine articles that had been lying about the apartment before. She grabbed it and span around, forcing it into Bucky's open hand, "This is for you"

"A phone?" Bucky examined it, "what's this for?"

"I told you, if you ever do end up leaving again, this way we can keep in contact. Also when i'm on my breaks at work, I can always give you a ring. It gets boring when I have no one to talk to." Most of the other workers went off with their friends for a coffee, whilst Charley remained in the staff area, eating from her own packed lunch. Bucky considered it for a moment, but Charley kept on pressing, using the only skill she knew which was winning arguments, to her advantage, "My contact details are already in there, so is my work number. If you don't want anyone else in there, that's cool. I just need to know that I can contact you whenever and know you're safe. And you can contact me too, whenever. Just only call my work number in case of emergencies."

"This didn't cost you a lot, did it?"

She raised her eyebrows, amused at Bucky's concern for her financial situation, "Bucky, it's a bloody flip phone. It cost me barely $20. I didn't think you'd want anything more flashier"

Bucky nodded once and flipped it open his opening screen already set to the selfie of him and Charley at the Smithsonian. Due to his phone being a crappy flip phone, the quality wasn't as clear but, personally, she still thought it was the best picture she had ever taken. Charley leaned over his shoulder to look at it and instantly turned red when she realized Bucky was staring at it non-blinkingly.

"Um, you don't have to keep it as that, I just changed it for the purpose of having a background other than those crappy set up screens they give you"

"No, I like it," he continued to stare at it, Charley eyed him carefully wondering what he was thinking. His face unreadable, "It's just weird looking at it. It doesn't feel like I'm staring at myself, I look so normal in the picture." Charley took a look at the picture for herself, again, wondering what he was talking about. He looked the same as always. But he did look happy, the creases under his eyes showing as his smile spread from ear to ear which seemed to brighten his face.

"I think you're _meant_ to feel normal. This is good."

"I don't want to become too relaxed" he admitted, "I need to remember that everyone is still after me"

Charley didn't say anything but simply sighed whilst looking away. She wasn't sure what else to say. Part of her knew that Bucky was right, he had to remain vigilante but that didn't mean he couldn't be happy at the same time.

The rest of their day was short lived as Charley had to go to work at one. Bucky remained at home, cooking (making Charley a bit nervous to leave him). When she returned from work she was met with the delicious smell of baked cookies and a chocolate cake as well as cooked to perfection lasagne.

Apparently Bucky was a naturally good chef. Charley couldn't have asked for anything more.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

A few weeks later the weather outside was barbaric. The October winds setting in as forecasted storms were ahead. That night, winds were blowing and it was apparent that the forecast was going to be correct. Charley bid her goodnight to Bucky as he mumbled a small 'goodnight, doll' the same they did every night and she shut the windows tightly closed before returning to her own room to get some sleep, cuddling up to the blankets to keep out the cold.

It was the crackling of the storm that kept Charley awake. Usually she liked thunder storms, finding the rumble to be quite therapeutic, but today she was on edge. The pit in her stomach telling herself something was going to happen and no matter how much she closed her eyes, she just couldn't sleep.

Mabel was sitting on the ledge of her window sill, her ears perked up, cowering every now and then, whenever there was a bolt of lightning that managed to break through the cheap material of her curtains.

Abruptly, the thunder roared. Charley jumped, taken by surprised as Mabel quickly ran over to Charley, cuddling up in her lap.

"Hey, it's alright," She cooed, leaning down to give Mabel a kiss on the head which she happily nuzzled into, usually she would reject any sort of affection, "I swear you only want me when it suits you. Don't you?"

She reached over for her phone that was charging on the floor and turned it on, blinking rapidly as spots appeared, the light from the phone hitting her straight in the eyes. She blinked furiously, trying to regain her sense of vision before reading the white flashing numbers, 3:00am. Just as she was about click on her phone again, a battery warning flashed up.

She groaned. She needed her phone for tomorrow at work. Quickly, she got up and checked her phone was properly plugged it before realizing it wasn't the phone or the charger but instead there was a power. Meaning the power had been cut.

"ugh" Charley let out, pushing herself up and checking that she only had 6% battery. Which was definitely not going to last her a whole day at work.

She threw her phone back down onto the floor, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and pulling on some short pyjama shorts, wondering if Bucky was alright in there. But before her hand made it to the door a painful scream was ripped out causing her to jump away from her door in shock.

Out of reflex she covered her hands over her ears, shocked by the sudden loudness of the noise but then screamed herself when a bolt of lightning shuddered outside momentarily stopping Bucky's shriek but he didn't stop long before the shrill screams started up again. The sound of loud banging could be heard accompanying the screams, and Charley quickly looked around in search of her water gun, realizing in horror she had left it beside the couch.

She hadn't needed it since the last time, which felt like months ago, and she had become so relaxed that she had forgotten about Bucky's relapses. He had seemed so calm over the last few days, she wasn't expecting something like this to happen so suddenly. But, she should have recognized that the thunder would trigger something. She was an idiot.

With no other choice she opened the door without hesitation.

In the dark she could see Bucky. This time he was standing up. His silhouette hunched over as he clutched his head in agony, mumbling something over and over again.

Charley took a step closer, careful not to startle him "готовы соблюдать" he was repeating. Charley couldn't even begin to understand what it means but she ignored it, instead her eyes navigated the water gun in the dark, narrowing them when she thought she spotted the silhouette of it leaned up against the couch.

Preparing her legs, she decided the best plan was to run for it and hope for the best. Maybe Bucky, in the state he was in, wouldn't notice. But she couldn't help but be afraid of the man before her. He wasn't her Bucky. This was the winter soldier… the brain washed assassin, trained only to do one thing; Kill.

She suddenly went for it, surprising even herself by her sudden burst of confidence as she ran straight for the water gun hoping that it had enough water in it to wake Bucky from his trance state.

Her hand was reached out, barely reaching the handle when her stomach was swiftly knocking into. She went flying back, into the kitchen table, her back hitting it roughly. It didn't necessarily hurt but there would be a definite bruise in the morning.

She let out a soft moan as she tried to get up, using her elbows for support but had to quickly roll downwards as a metal fist came flying at her. She was forced to awkward roll on her side, slamming her head onto the floor and doing a small backwards roll in reflex. The sound of crashing followed as she realized Bucky's hand had made contact with her table, splitting it in two.

Knowing there was no escape, she shuffled backwards, looking for any weapon to defend herself but in her panic she found nothing . Bucky flexed his arm out, curling it into a fist before turning to her, a murderous glare in his eyes as he stared down at her. He was unrecognizable. Panic flooded through her as she realized this was how she was going to end. By the hand of the person she was pretty much in love with. She couldn't imagine what he would do when he woke up from this relapse to see what he had done. Would it be a quick death? The Winter Soldier seemed like someone who would try and get the job done quickly. Would it hurt?

She hadn't realized she had still been shuffling back until her back made hard contact with the wall.

Bucky was in front of her now and Charley raised her hands to shield her face, not wanting to see him when he killed her.

"Bucky, please!" She cried out, seeing the glint of metal about to crash down onto her, "AHHH!"

But the expected blow never came.

After a moment she slowly lowered her hands. Bucky was tripping backwards. His hands by his side as he stared at her with wide eyes, realization dawning on his face.

"Charley- I…" His sentence was lost as he gulped. Charley was surprised to find tears glistening in his own eyes. Had he been crying this whole time? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean too-"

Her heart was still thumping fast but she placed a hand on her chest, trying to regain her sense of breathing before she gave herself a heart attack. Finding her breath she muttered a small, "I know"

"Are you hurt?"

"no, no" she was quick to say although as she used the cupboards to pull herself up she could already feel a bruise forming on her stomach where Bucky had hit her with his metal arm. She felt lucky to be alive if anything.

When she was finally up on her feet she saw Bucky watching her closely for any sign she was injured and she had to work hard on keeping a straight face when she took a step forward, closer to Bucky. She could practically tell what was about to happen. Bucky was slowly edging further backwards the closer she got.

"Just for future reference, remind me to take the water gun to my room next time instead of leaving it out here to spray my cat with when she's doing something naughty," Charley gave a shaky laugh. Warning bells were going off in her head. Bucky didn't even look like he heard her as he flinched again when another rumble of thunder hit. She pointed at the window where there was a visible flash, "should have known that lightning was never a good idea. Maybe we can invest in earbuds for next time"

Bucky scoffed, taking Charley by surprise " _Next_ time?" He said "There's not going to be a next time. I could have killed you!"

"Buck-"

"I should go"

"Don't you bloody dare! You promised me!" Charley shouted but Bucky was already gone. The door left ajar and the last thing she saw was his metal arm, twist around the corner to the stairs. Charley darted after him in nothing but her thin t-shirt with, no bra underneath, and pyjama shorts.

As soon as she entered the corridor she realized her mistake, the cold seeping through her clothes but she had no choice to run bare foot down the stairs after Bucky's heavy stomps. She wondered how he could be so agile as the winter soldier when she could still here his footsteps from the third floor.

Luckily for Charley she was fast and despite being small she used all of her leg power to go at her full speed to catch up to Bucky, knowing if she didn't there would be no way she ever would

Three more streets down she thought she saw him. She had to weave in between Alley ways to catch up to him, knowing these few streets like the back of her hand as they were the furthest she usually traveled (unless it was work) which came in handy in situations like these, when she needed a shortcut.

"Bucky!" She cried, seeing his figure in the darkened streets. Rain was making her vision foggy but she could just make out the metal of his arm. She realized then that it wasn't covered up, it had been the first time she had seen it outside her apartment. Luckily the late night shielded them and the rain practically made them a blur to people who happened to look out their window at three in the morning, "Buck, please stop! I'm going to catch a cold..."

By now she was out of breath, although her running had definitely warmed her up and now she was sure sweating instead of shaking. She wasn't sure which one as worse, "Please stop. I think I'm going to pass out"

In the distance she saw the figure stop moving upon her command.

Bucky slowly turned, but kept his distance. Almost as if he was afraid of getting to close to her. She got nearer seeing his face clearer. His hair was to say the least… very wet. It was sticking to his forehead and was a lot longer than Charley expected now that the waves from it had come out due to the weather.

"I've got to go, Charley," Bucky sighed, "I'm dangerous to be around. What the hell was I thinking, thinking I could be normal!"

She groaned, throwing her head back, the rain catching her full in the face, "how many times have we had this argument? You're not dangerous, you can have a normal life if you j-"

"I just hit you!"

"That wasn't you. _That_ was the Winter Soldier, You had a relapse, it was my fault for not having the water gun-"

"Don't blame this on yourself," Bucky scolded, glaring down at her. He suddenly looked around nervously and used his hand to push the wet hair from his eyes, "this is exactly the reason I don't want to see Steve. I don't want him to see the monster I've become, and I definitely didn't want you to see that"

"I don't-"

" _Charley!_ "

"I don't!" She insisted further, "I think the people who did this to you are monsters. Never you. You would never have done that if you were in your right mind" Carefully she reached out a hand to take his, but he pulled away, "please come back. Can we just discuss this in the apartment?" Now that she wasn't moving the cold was beginning to bite at her.

"Don't do that" Bucky said softly.

In response, she frowned, "Do what?"

"Beg me to stay"

"Why not?"

"Because it makes me want to come back with you and _I can't_ ," He stressed, giving a breathy laugh "You're like a drug Charley Weller. I just can't seem to get enough of you."

She cocked her head to the side with a sly smirk, "I did warn you from the start, I _am_ very persuasive." Her expression turned sour again, however, when she realized Bucky was still set on leaving, "This won't happen again, Buck, just come back"

"What, are you going to control the weather now?" Bucky smiled but it was an empty thoughtful smile "You're great but you're not that great, _doll_ "

"I _am_ that great actually" She replied cockily, not missing the subtle nod of agreement from Bucky which only made her want to smile despite the circumstances, "I don't know… maybe we can figure out why the thunder affects you. Is it because of the war in 1940? I know a lot of soldiers have PTSD from that because of the bomb shells-"

"No, I can't even remember them" he was quick to shut her down, shaking his head as he did so.

"What then? What does it remind you of?"

Bucky licked his lips, nervously. She suspected he didn't want to tell her. She reached over and took his hand telling her she was there for him and smiling slightly when he didn't flinch away.

"It's the machine," he said, "The one they used to take my memories away from me." He nodded up at the thunder that was still roaring, the clouds flashing up white every now and then. For the most part, they were trying to ignore it, "It sounds like thunder, when it starts to wipe you. It's the last noise I heard, every time. You know how I was telling you I remember that bad stuff sometimes, well, the thunder and the machine just remind me of all the stuff I did that I can't take back. Faces of people I killed become clearer…" He gulped, choking back tears, "You could have been one of those faces tonight"

Charley took a deep breath, not sure what to say but deciding on her typical dry humor approach, "Nah, I'm stronger than I look," She held up her arms to show her non-existent muscles off, "look at this, I feel this is evidence that I could have beaten you if I wanted too."

"Charley-" Bucky was glaring at her, clearly not finding it amusing at all. Which she really didn't understand why… she _was_ hilarious.

"Maybe, to help you, you need to associate something else with the thunder," She thought, "Something positive, that outweighs the negative."

Bucky scoffed, "What could possibly outweigh the thought of the machine that took away my memories for _seventy_ years," he added with dry sarcasm.

 _That is a good point_ , Charley thought, thinking about something that made Bucky happy, but the only thing that was coming to mind was Bucky's face when he found out there was a warcraft section at the Smithonian. The boyish grin couldn't be wiped off his face throughout the whole expedition. But she doubted showing pictures of planes to Bucky was going to ease his pain-

"I think I know something," Charley barely whispered above the loud beat of the rain. Bucky turned to look at her, confused, waiting for her miracle answer to come in a verbal form but Charley spontaneously grabbed Bucky's shirt with a confidence she didn't know she had supressed and clung to the wet material, pulling him downwards which was quite away considering their height differences.

After what felt like a lifetime of waiting, their lips met. It took Bucky a moment to respond and for a second Charley felt awkward, feeling his lips were stiff against her own, but just as she was about to pull away red in the faced, Bucky's lips began to move in synch with hers. It started off as slow, taking their time as if they were savouring the moment. She felt Bucky's metal arm cup her face, lifting her head higher, whilst his other gently caressed her face. Charley brought up her arms and held onto arms, not trusting herself not to fall over. Their lips moulded together easily and as things progressed she felt Bucky's arms travel from her face to her back, gently pulling her in closer and shielding her from the rain.

Charley pulled away first, still hungry for more but suddenly feeling scared. She had never been in this kind of relationship before; she wasn't sure how they worked. Although she supposed being in a relationship with the Winter soldier is likely to be a lot more different from most 'normal' relationships.

As they pulled away, she could see the detail on his face up much more closely now. Rain rolling down each of their cheeks. Bucky with his non-metal hand reached up and wiped the rain away. It was a wasted effort, however as the rain was coming down in bucket loads, replacing it moments later.

They stared at each other shocked but what had just happen. Both taken by surprise.

Finally finding her voice, Charley managed to utter, "Now, whenever there's thunder. Think of that"

 **A/N Thank you to everyone who has reviewed! I love your reviews so much! SO CHUCKY HAVE FINALLY KISSED and as i'm writing this i'm becoming continuously aware of the differences between American and English food... I don't know why I started this food trend, lol, this is going to be hard to continue (I started writing this chapter believing that American's would eat an english breakfast - because despite the name I still thought you American's would - and then I realized you probably wouldn't (you should it's delicious).**

 **(ALSO, side-note. I freaking walked past Anthony Mackie in the streets of London today. My heart hurts)**

 **Reviews:**

 **Knightowl247:Thank you so much. I always enjoy reading your reviews because your probably the nicest person I've had when it comes to talking about my writing. But I'm glad you're enjoying it. I hope I can continue to please you! :D**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: oops, sorry I was meant to put the translation on the A/N. I forgot, I'm sorry you had to google it yourself. But here is your long awaited kiss scene, haha. I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Jessenia22: I literally was googling so many 1940's slang words for last chapter but doll was the only one I could really find. Haha. I'm glad you're enjoying it!**

 **Alybaly1: thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it. This was the sweetest review to read so thank you! Literally I want to hug you right now. I hope I can keep pleasing you!**

 **Inperfection: Thanks you! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and yes, Bucky's Russian would make any girl falter. Hope you like this chapter too!**

 **Guest: Thank you so so so much for the review. I'm surprised to hear that Charley reminds you of yourself, I wasn't sure if she was relatable enough or not but I'm glad you're finding parts of yourself within her and that your confidence is growing with people's positive reviews (let's hope I continue getting good reviews then :P) but you're awesome anyway, you don't need a fictional character to tell you that. And I don't doubt that you like Pizza. Hahahahaha.**

 **I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY GUYS!**


	16. Croissants

**Chapter 16:**

Charley's voice barely carried through the rain as she whispered, "Now, whenever there's thunder. Think of that"

Throughout the kiss he had forgotten all about the dooming weather above them. Despite the chaos of it, the wind speeding past them, it didn't seem to matter anymore. She barely had time to break the distance between them when Bucky reached out and kissed her again. Feelings taking over his actions. She was a lot quicker to respond, her hands gripped at his shirt again and bit at his lip a small shudder escaping him at her touch.

 _She really is like a drug_ , Bucky thought as he attacked her lips equally as furiously.

When they pulled apart they waited for their chests to rise and fall, leaning their foreheads against one another, taking each other in. As they did this the world around him became much more visible. He begun to feel the rain seeping down his back again. Charley still had her eyes closed, savouring the moment. Which is what Bucky would be doing if the nagging though at the back of his mind hadn't come to the surface, and that was the reality of the situation.

Bucky was the Winter Soldier. He couldn't escape it, nor could he deny it. He couldn't offer Charley anything she deserved.

With that thought in mind, he pulled away, his hand slipping from where it had been perfectly cupping her cheek. Despite the gap between them she still kept her eyes closed.

"Was that kiss you telling me you're going to stay or was it a goodbye kiss because if it is a goodbye kiss then just leave now," The pit at the bottom of his stomach sank a bit when Charley's voice cracked on the last word. She was refusing to open her eyes and he realized it was because she didn't want to see him go. For a moment he considered it, turning and leaving. She would be safe, he was confident that no one, not Hydra or Steve, knew about Charley. Where he had been staying and his feelings for her. If he left now she would be safe. The thought alone was enough to make him consider it.

But the truth was he didn't want to. He remained rooted to the spot watching as a rain drop fell ironically onto the tip of Charley's eye lid causing her to blink impulsively. Her eye was forced open despite her stubborn insistence, as she tried to resist against it. Any thought of leaving was quickly vanished within Bucky's mind once Charley's eyes were fully open.

"You kissed me first," Bucky reminded her, matter of factly. She tilted her chin up towards the sky in a half nod. His tone was meant to sound accusing but it came out amused.

"That was to do with the thunder!" Charley argued, her hand pointing up to the sky to emphasise her point, "and I didn't want you to leave"

"So you kissed me?" Bucky raised an eyebrow, cocking his head to the side in question. His lips twitched up a little as Charley did a cold dance, stepping from one side to the other. Her hair a tangled mess. She didn't have any shoes on and her shirt was practically see-through. He had to mentally remind himself to keep his eyes on her face when the rain had made her shirt cling to her form tightly. But her hands were crossed under her arms trying to protect her body from the cold. Being a super soldier Bucky's body was working quadruple as hard as any average human and so he could hardly feel the freezing air touch his body. All he felt was discomfort as his clothes stuck to him.

"It was meant to be a romantic kiss in the rain! I didn't think it through alright," Charley said, her voice raising an octave, "and you kissed me second." It had been such a long time since Bucky had even thought about romance. Probably longer than most humans who existed. Seventy years was a long time, "I've got an excuse for my kiss. Explain your reasoning, huh?"

"You kissed me _back_ the second time," he reasoned. Not really understanding why Charley was getting all flustered and mad in the moment but finding it amusing none of the less, "Explain that"

"I asked first"

" _No_ , you kissed me _first_ ," Bucky rolled his eyes.

"You're being childish"

" _I'm_ being childish!", Bucky raised his eyebrows. He mimicked her posture by crossing his arms, "you're the one who started an argument over…" he stopped in his tracks. _What was she arguing over,_ Bucky thought with amusement. She argued over so many things it was hard to keep track, "What are we arguing over?"

"Why you kissed me!" Charley issued out, unfolding her arms so she could prod him in the chest. Not that it did anything. Her delicate fingers were nothing compared to his muscular form.

"I need a reason to kiss you?" Bucky sucked in a breath of air. In all the memories he could recall he couldn't remember a kiss ever ending like this. Usually it ended with

"I had a reason!" She jabbed a finger, "So you need a reason too"

"Why are you arguing with me about this?"

"Because I argue when I'm nervous and am trying to divert the point" She admitted, her face lighting up crimson red and despite the cold air the heat between them was becoming too much to bare for Bucky. Charley's final statement, however, caused his grin to spread and it grew even bigger when Charley shyly shuffled away, distracting herself with her dirty feet, shuffling side to side.

"I kissed you because I wanted to" He said. He was planning on saying more but it was wiped out of his mind when Charley looked at him, surprised.

Her awkward shuffle only got worse. She was looking around at anything from point to point, bar Bucky's face. Avoiding any eye contact and when she finally did look at him it was down at his feet.

"Are you staying then or not?" her tone was harsh but he knew it was only to cover up her anxious state.

"Seeing as you asked so nicely"

She nodded once, her shoulder slumping as she diverted her eyes from him, hopping from one foot to the other to keep her body moving.

"So…" She awkwardly gestured to the rain above them but ducked her head again when a few rain drops fell directly into her eye, "the weather… it's nice"

"Let's get you inside before you freeze to death"

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

When they got in, Bucky took refuge in the bathroom, needing a moment to breathe. Leaning his hands against the sink, trying to regain some perspective. His head muddled and confused, more so than usual. The inner battle inside of him fighting between his past self and present self. He presumed the 1940's Bucky wouldn't think twice about him letting his feelings for Charley take over.

It took him some confidence to finally lift his head to look at the mirror in front of him. It was the only mirror in the apartment (other than the small one in Charley's room), and he usually tried to avoid it when he was having a shower and his arm was bare. At the moment he was wearing a tank top and his left arm was exposed to the air, but the lights were all out and the bathroom was immersed in darkness, he could only just make out the glint of the red star painted on his shoulder.

The arm was a sore reminder of who he was and who he could never be and he didn't like looking at it. Especially not when he was with Charley. Not when she made him feel so… _normal_. As if the last seventy years hadn't happened.

Charley said she would be here for him no matter what. But tonight was proof enough to know he was too dangerous for her. She could have been killed and he felt a sick bubble in his stomach at the thought of waking up to find out what he had done. He was better off leaving her- he knew that - she would be safe away from harm, away from him.

Deciding his own course of action, in his head he planned out what he would do. He would stay one more night but wouldn't tell Charley about his plans for leaving, she would only manage to convince him to stay and he knew he would listen. She was good at that.

He would stay one more night and that was it. For her own safety.

Repeating this over and over in his head he steadily rose up, broadening his shoulders and slowly turning to face the door leading to where Charley was. Preparing to inwardly say goodbye.

 _He could do this_ He thought with mild self-doubt.

When he opened the door up he was met with a dim room. He wasn't expecting to see a pillow fort set up in the middle of the floor.

A small flashlight was set up underneath the streets, and there was a silhouette of Charley who was ducked under, he could only just make out her arm that was poking out. The couch cushions had been taken off and propped up against the side as a make-shift wall. It was the perfect closed in square, which wasn't surprising considering it was Charley who liked perfect alignments.

Despite his previous dark thoughts Bucky couldn't help but give an amused smirk and any thoughts about leaving, left his mind.

His grin only widened when Charley attempted at getting out of the fort. With her arm she reached back for the couch in order to support her body as she got up but missed it by a mile, tripping over the corner of the sheet and falling backwards, landing painfully on her bum on the wooden flooring.

Bucky quickly rushed forward to catch her but was too late and instead offered her a hand up. Before she accepted his hand of help she sent him a warning glare, daring him to mock her for falling. When he didn't say anything she took his hand and pulled herself up. As soon as her hand connected with his, however, he almost dropped her.

Her hand felt so warm against his metal one.

He could feel with his arm, not much but there were some senses. It helped in a fight, knowing if an enemy was using his arm to their advantage. It was always painful whenever his arm needed to be fixed and a bunch of mechanics began to meddle inside his arm.

He could have killed her with this arm.

When she was up on her feet he quickly let go.

"May I ask what you're doing?" He asked, gesturing towards the mess in the middle of the floor.

With a wide grin, Charley faced her fort proudly, "It's a pillow fort. It's awesome"

"Why are you building a pillow fort?"

"Well, it's too early in the morning now to go to bed" She said, cocking her head to the side as if thinking of reasons. It _was_ early, it was now five in the morning and he knew Charley had to start getting ready for work in two hours or so, "The powers off so I can't watch a movie or browse the internet"

"So you decided to make a pillow fort?"

"It was the obvious option."

"Obvious?"

Charley nodded and grinned as she quickly ducked down and began to crawl inside, her legs disappearing under the tent-like structure, the flap of the street closing shut.

"Are you coming?"

"That thing is tiny, I'm never going to fit in there."

The flap was suddenly pulled back again and Charley appeared, her hair now messy and her body at a crooked angle as she could barely fit in there all on her own. But she gave him a stern glare.

"Get in the fort _now_?" She commanded, "Don't make me drag you in"

Raising a hand in surrender, Bucky ducked down and crawled in. Charley had already settled back down, laying down on her back staring at the canopy of the fort, a bag of chips by her head with one hand already in the packet.

He settled down beside her, both hands awkwardly at his side, his feet poking out the edge of the fort, exposing them to the cold air and his arms rubbed close against Charley's shoulders, she was so small that her head barely reached his shoulders and her legs fit perfectly inside.

Despite the close proximity, it was nice and cosy in there.

The flashlight offered a sufficient light source and Charley started to make shapes with her hand to create shadows. She waved her hand in circles and giggled when she managed to make a T-rex 'eat' Bucky's pathetic bird shape.

By the time they got tired of the hand puppets it was half five and the packet of crisps was emptied.

Charley had gotten up sometime ago and with bustling about in the cupboards she eventually returned with some cake, handing Bucky a slice and spoon.

"Double chocolate," she remarked, diving into her cake with aggression. She managed to get chocolate cake everywhere. It was all around her mouth and had cascaded down her clothes with a smear of chocolate on the street. She tried wiping it off with her finger but made it worse as her finger was smothered in chocolate.

Shrugging she went back to the final crumbs of her cake, "I'll get that later"

Drumming her hands on her chest she asked "So, are you liking the fort?". She turned her body to face him fully, now on her side, "I didn't really have much time so it's a little small but it'll be bigger next time."

"Next time?"

She shrugged, "I used to build them all the time when I was in the apartment alone, don't judge me, but it would have been weird if I'd have just started building one when you were sleeping on the couch."

"Weirder than this?"

"I said don't judge"

"I used to build forts all the time," Bucky said, his eyes fazing into a memory as he stared at the roof of the sheet, "Well Beci made them, I just told her where to put the cushions," the image of a small four year old Beci dragging ten year old Steve into the fort because he was the only one that would fit because they were so small.

"How much older were you than Beci?"

"Six," Bucky replied, still in a haze of memories of a little brown haired old girl running about with pigtails, always carrying the same Victorian doll tucked under her arm. The doll always did creep Bucky out. For a moment he wondered where it was now, Beci had always kept it on the top of her shelf when growing up, did she have kids who she passed it onto? Was it destroyed?

Knowing these thoughts would only lead him on a path to internal self-destruction he shook his head, turning to focus on Charley, "What about you? What was your childhood like?"

"Well," she paused for a moment to think, "don't be jealous but I had a slid bed."

"What's a slide bed?"

"You didn't have slide beds in the fourties!" she exclaimed, grabbing her phone that had been lying beside her and went onto her phone gallery, tapping her screen so quickly that it made Bucky's eyes blurry, " _This_ is a slide bed"

She snapped her phone around to face him. It was a picture of who he assumed was Charley sitting on a bunk bed. The place where the ladder usually went was a slide, but her bedroom looked so narrow that the slide was out of the door.

Whilst the bed took up most of the picture Bucky was focusing on Charley. She had her hair done up in pigtails with a full fringe still out. The picture was a little grainy on the phone but you can still see it was Charley, despite only being…

"How old are you here?" Bucky gave the phone, curious to see more pictures of her childhood.

"um," She observed the picture, "About five."

"Do you have more pictures?"

Charley's eyes widened in horror, "You do _not_ want to see childhood pictures of me"

"Yes I do"

Charley looked unsure, wincing as she tucked her phone behind her, away from Bucky's reach, "You know my phone is running out of charge, I think it would be best if I turn it off" she said with a sly smirk.

"You know so much about me and I don't know anything about you."

"Yes you do," Charley assured, "I'm just such boring person so there's not much to tell"

He cocked his head to the side in disapproval. "That's not true," he frowned.

"It really is."

"What's the worst fall that you've ever had?" Bucky asked curiously. She tripped so often that there must have been a worst time. He hoped there were lots of stories to choose from.

He really was curious about Charley. She rarely ever talked about her life and when she did it was about how disappointed she was in herself, how she felt she hadn't achieved much. She had helped him with so much the least he could do was show her how amazing she was.

"I dropped a paving slab on my foot once," she said, wincing at the memory, "I was playing football and the ball kept going behind this slab, I picked it up to move it and me being my young unmuscular self," she leant over and whispered "unlike I am today, obviously. I dropped it, basically. Hurt like a bitch"

"Did you break anything?"

"My big toe, I still have the scar." She picked up her leg and wiggled her toes. Bucky only just realized her slightly wonky big toe which canted to the left a little. She put her foot down and asked, "So, have you broken any bones?"

"Since when were you asking _me_ questions?"

"If you're allowed to ask me questions, so am I"

"That's not the rule"

"Since when were there rules?" They laughed, "Just answer the questions"

"Being the Winter Soldier and living the forties isn't the best place to _not_ get broken bones, or broken anything really" He admitted sourly. From the corner of his eye he saw Charley look down as if ashamed she had even asked the question. He thought that she sometimes forgot about his history as the winter soldier, despite the whole of their relationship being based on it, the way she treated him he sometimes doubted she even knew who he was, "I got in a lot of fights with Steve by my side. Well, usually it was me who was defending Steve and Steve trying to get in on the fight even though he already had three broken ribs, but I got broken noses almost every week because of it. All worth it"

"I'm surprised you don't have a wonky nose like my toe"

"I think I broke my nose so much that my nose just learnt to go back to normal"

At some point during their discussion the two of them had got closer. Her head was resting in the crook of his neck; luckily her hair was tied back as not to get over his face. He had moved so that their hands were almost holding.

Giving an awkward cough he changed the subject away from his thoughts that were focusing on their kiss only an hour before, "So, another question"

"hm?"

"Why did you move to America?"

Giving a slight shrug she sighed, "I had hoped to start up my career here"

"What career?"

"I wanted to make films, like directing films" She admitted with a slight blush, "A stupid ambition really. I should have known I would never make it but my plan was to move out here and go to University over here, hoped I could get enough money. Turns out I couldn't do that and I got stuck at a job at Target"

Bucky frowned, he hadn't realized the true reason she had come over here. As selfish as it was, he was glad she had, otherwise he supposed he would never have met her. She busied herself with starting to wipe the stain off of the sheet, licking the back of her hand and rubbing it clean.

"Why didn't you just go home?"

"I was planning too, but… then you came along" she twiddled with her hands that were now resting on her chest, her phone placed just underneath them, "That night, in fact, I was planning on booking plane tickets back to England. The helicarrier crash had kind of scared me and I didn't want to stay here anymore, not when I wasn't doing anything with my life"

"There's still time," Bucky said. Unconsciously his hand reached out for hers, cupping it in his metal one, "You're only twenty-two, there's plenty of time."

"Buck, I work at Target on minimum wage. There's no way I would be able to go to a college in America and I wouldn't even know where to begin with applying anyway. I don't exactly have a lot of experience"

"You don't have to go to college to be successful"

"Maybe in the forties not, but the world sucks today"

Bucky sighed, resting his head back against the side of the sofa, which was one of the sides of the fort.

He didn't know how else he could help her; his knowledge on the modern world was limited, having been in the cryofreeze for seventy years but he wanted to help her so much-

He paused in mid-thought, remembering what he said to himself in the bathroom. He was planning on leaving and he needed to. With his free hand he wiped his hand through his hair, not meaning to let a deep sigh escape him.

"What's wrong?" Charley asked, her eyebrows knitted together in concern at Bucky's rather deep sigh.

He couldn't help but feel that the nights events could have gone very differently. What if he hadn't of snapped out of winter soldier mode? He could have snapped her neck and killed her in the blink of a second only to wake up to find out what he would have done.

The sudden urge to check she was okay overcame him. He let go of her hand and slide it under her back, pulling her closer. She didn't question him, but welcomed the embrace, moving on her side again to accompany the enclosed space, causing her to snuggle up to him.

"I'm sorry for earlier," He barely whispered, before she could cut across him with an excuse as to why she didn't blame him she said before her "if I'm going to stay I need to take extra precautions"

"Like what?"

"I'm going to train you basic fight moves, just so, if it ever happens again – which it won't – that you can fight me off for just enough time to get away," that was his only condition for staying. He couldn't risk hurting her again like that and if he could do everything in his power to prevent it, he would.

He knew he couldn't properly train her to his standards. He was a super soldier, and even if she was training for years she would still never beat him in a fight, but if she taught her basic moves just so she can get away, maybe she'd have a chance. And he supposed, he could tell her all of his weak spots. Something he had never told any other person he had trained before, but for her safety she needed to know.

He didn't have to say another word to convince her as Charley suddenly was nodding enthusiastically.

"Can you teach me badass moves, please?" Charley leant on his arm, giving him puppy dog eyes, genuinely excited for this.

Bucky straighten where he lay, above him he opened the latch to look out at her apartment, surveying it "I'm not going to go easy on you" he warned. If he was going to do this he had to be sure she knew how to defend herself, there was no point showing her techniques if she didn't train with pressure on her. If hydra came for her when he wasn't there, or if he turned again, she would need to know what to do. In his eyes he was just taking precautions "If I'm staying, you've got to learn properly. You're apartments too small, though, I might have to take you to the gym I was staying at a few weeks ago"

"You were staying at a gym?"

"It was an abandoned one, it was convenient."

"Wow" Charley muttered, "You're really serious about this."

"I'm serious when it comes to your safety." he said honestly "We'll start tomorrow" He dropped the latch and settled back down. He realized it was getting lighter outside, they no longer needed the flashlight on as light shimmered through the sheets, making it look red underneath the blankets. Charley gave a slight yawn, protesting against the morning, reminding Bucky she would have to go to work in a short while.

"What's the time?"

Opening up her phone, she said "Just gone six."

He took a peek at her phone and saw the background was still there 'selfie' together (he still wasn't sure what a selfie was). The time meant she had an hour before she had to start getting ready. He really didn't want her to go, he had no plans for the day and he hated staying put in the house all day doing nothing.

"Shall we go out for breakfast," Charley offered, whilst yawning, "There's a café round the corner that I've been to once or twice. I've heard they've brought in some chocolate pancakes and I'm up for trying that"

Still getting used to the new foods of present day, Bucky nodded once. Twenty minutes later Charley they were sitting at the café corner. Bucky sported his cap, lowering it over his face with his hands stuffed in his pocket, waiting at the table whilst Charley ordered their food inside. He hadn't told her what he wanted, he wasn't really sure what everything was, but trusted her to get him something nice.

The café itself was painted a sickly pink, a coffee silhouette was painted onto the side of the shop with small love hearts 'popping' out of the cup. Three white antique tables were crammed together outside to conserve space for a massive palm tree plant that stood in the centre of the patio, Bucky's back was to it and the leaves were digging into his spine. Moving over slightly he noticed there was one other customer sitting with them outside. The man had been there when they arrived, reading a newspaper and wearing a flat cap and tweed leather jacket. Due to his age, Bucky assessed the man was no threat to him or Charley.

It had become a habit to assess the people around him, to check whether any hydra agents were onto him. He had been doing it more so since living with Charley, worrying that he was placing danger on the two of them by staying in one location all of the time. He was constantly aware.

Two plates of croissants made a clank as it landed on the table, snapping him out of thought. He looked up to see Charley frowning, gazing down at the croissants, "They didn't have any chocolate pancakes. We're going to have to come again so I can try them."

Once again, Bucky felt bad that he had no money to offer towards the food.

"Do you think you could let me know when there are jobs at your work?"

"Sure, there's jobs going all the time, I'll let you know straight away," She went to take another bite of her croissant but before it reached her lips she hesitantly pulled away, dropping it back onto her plate, "So… does this mean that you're staying. Last night was a bit confusing and you didn't leave after we kissed-" on the last word she gave an awkward cough, scratching the side of her face nervously, "um, and you came back but I wasn't sure if that was for good or if you were just doing that to make me feel better or something, or maybe you felt bad about me kissing you and felt obliged to stay… I don't know, I mean if you want to go please don't let me stop you. You have every right to go. I just thought since your talking about giving me self-defence lessons and wanting a job it meant you were staying…"

Her lips smacked shut and she knew she was aware of how much she was rambling. Supressing a smile Bucky drew his hand forward and took Charley's open one that was resting on the table by her plate.

"I _was_ planning on leaving, after last night," he admitted, casting his eyes down at his food. His throat suddenly feeling dry and despite his hungry growling in frustration, he didn't feel hungry anymore, "But I opened the bathroom door and saw you building a fort… and I realized that when I'm with you I have a reason to live, there's no point running from that"

Bucky looked just as shocked as Charley at the words he had just said, her mouth hanging open. She swallowed what was left of her croissants, engulfing it in one, crumbs falling everywhere before jumping up and capturing Bucky's lips.

The table between them and Charley's short height made it an awkward angle to kiss as Bucky tried to move as far as he could forward to make it easy for Charley as possible. She was using the chair as a stool and was almost sitting on the table in order to reach Bucky.

A little surprised he got over it, quickly kissing her back with as much heated aggression as she was giving him. He slowed down the pace until it was nothing more than small pecks, moving his lips in synch with hers. When he felt her arm sliding under the table he caught her before she could manage to slide off of the table completely, keeping her steady in place. She smiled underneath the kiss at Bucky's quick response time.

Heart racing, they pulled away he felt Charley let out a breath of air. Their foreheads locked and Bucky was aware his cap was slowly falling off of his head but he couldn't find it within himself to care. The only person near them was the old man reading the newspaper (who was now shuffling his chair further away), no one else was on the street to recognize him, he had surveyed the road. Unless someone was watching them from the apartments opposite-

 _Stop_. He thought to himself suddenly, focusing his eyes on Charley to stop his paranoid thoughts. For a moment he just wanted to pretend he was a normal person who didn't have a metal arm or a dark history, going out with a girl he likes.

"Sorry," Charley winced, dropping back into her chair and pushing it back a little, away from him, "I'm not really sure if it's acceptable yet to do that"

"To kiss me?"

"Yeah"

He couldn't help but smirk at her flustered state, noticing the freckles on her nose became even more prominent with a red face.

"Unlike you apparently do, you don't _need_ a reason to kiss me," Bucky chuckled.

Blushing still, Charley leant forward again, "Well, in that case-" She pounced at him again and this time she really did have to sit on the table to reach him. Holding nothing back Bucky took one arm around her back and the other around her legs. Gently he pulled her off of the table, their lips still locked, and guided her so she was settled onto his lap.

"For a guy who's not had experience for seventy years, you're a damn good kisser" Charley added as soon as their lips unlocked.

 **A/N sorry for taking so long to update, I was a little stuck with this chapter, I wasn't sure where it was heading but I worked it out eventually. Hope you enjoy! :D**

 **Ps. I'm also really regretting the food titles, i'm running out of foods to include. lol. If you've got a few foods that can feature, please suggest them in reviews. i'd appreciate it :D**

 **Lara Barnes: Thank you so much, sorry for taking so long to update. It was actually your review that convinced me to write the chapter in Bucky's POV because I was curious myself as to how Bucky would react.**

 **Lizziecats: love a good dramatic kiss in the rain, haha. Thanks so much!**

 **Artemis7448: don't worry they're leading to sleeping in the same room. Soon, I promise. Lol**

 **Crazehfreakbesasseh: haha, thanks so much, sorry it took so long for you to see what happens next, I hope the long update hasn't turned you off :D**

 **Guest 1: Thanks, sorry it's taken me so long**

 **Guest 2: So so so sorry it's taken me forever, I was struggling so much to write this chapter and I don't know why. I hope you haven't withdrew too farr**

 **Luna3818: They sure did! Thanks so much for reviewing and reading**

 **Guest 3: I will, don't worry :D**

 **Thearrowsoflegolas: thank you so much, it's lovely to hear you appreciate the OC. These are my fav kind of reviews. I'm not a great fan of myself where there is no development (and I have been known on my past fanfics to be that type of writer as well, so I've tried hard to actually develop their relationship here. I hope it hasn't progressed too quickly in this chapter**

 **Jessenia22: I'm always curious of 1940's slang too, even though it's fictional I always wondered if Steve and Bucky would continue using the slang from the forties. I mean Steve kind of does in the films**

 **Guest 4: thanks so much, sorry for taking so long to update!**

 **Bitch Are My Cupcake: haha, thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the kiss. I wasn't sure if I wanted a cliché kiss in the rain but I just went… what the hell, and did it anyway. Sorry it took so long to update, I was sooo stuck on this chapter and I have no idea why, I didn't want to progress their relationship too quickly which is what I feel like I'm doing.**

 **Guest 5: I had a full English breakfast right before I started writing last chapter, delicious, I guess that's where the inspiration came from.**

 **Guest 6: thank you so, so much. I'm not sure about it being the best but I appreciate it all the same. This is the loveliest review thank you (I realize you're the sixth guest reviewer so you'll probably never know which answer is yours but thank you anyway!)**

 **Inperfection: I'm so glad you Americans have an English breakfast, I was so concerned last chapter that you guys are missing out on the delights. I realize I also keep integrating into English culture as I write, which is one of the reasons I'm glad I've made the OC English so I can blame it on that haha. I wasn't planning on showing Bucky's reaction to the kiss but I was curious myself, hence the chapter being in his POV. I hope you enjoyed it! And I am so so sorry for the long update, it wasn't supposed to take this long. But yeah, Anthony Mackie is a beautiful man. I'm just annoyed I panicked and ran away from him. Lol.**


	17. Brownies

**Chapter 17:**

Charley was absolutely exhausted. Bucky's metal fist had come so close to hitting her on the head that her life flashed before her eyes. If it wasn't for Bucky's sudden panic that he was going to hit her, that sparked his super quick reflex response, she would be out cold by now, seriously concussed or possibly dead.

They had been going at it all day. The first hour was Bucky teaching her basic fighting stances which had gone completely gone over her head. Then, before she knew it, they were sparring. Bucky's technique of teaching was to go straight into it.

Falling flat on her arse and feeling utterly useless for the tenth time that day, but not willing to give up so easily, she prepared herself again for more getting her arse kicked, taking Bucky's hand and pulling herself up from the floor.

"You just left yourself open to attack, again," Bucky lectured her, straightening up.

"I'm sorry, I don't have over seventy years' worth of training, like _some_ people," Charley bit back. Readjusting her boxing gloves that she had brought after work yesterday (Bucky had said that the gloves were useless, if she was caught by surprise she wouldn't have her boxing gloves on her, but she had insisted on using them)

Bucky deliberated, "I was in the cryofreeze for most of that time in fairness."

Looking her up and down, Bucky tried to ignore the way her fitness clothes clung to her and instead replaced those thoughts by internally criticizing her for all of her wrong body positions. Her left leg was too far behind her right, it would give her bad balance (and she needed all the balance she could get), her arm was too loosely held; she would never be able to hold a good defence barrier with how flimsy she was holding it.

"Am I doing it all wrong again?" Charley visibly slumped, defeated, noticing Bucky's narrowed eyes as he glanced at her feet, "What, what is wrong with my feet?"

"You're twisting them."

"No, I'm literally not."

"Yes you are, I'm looking at them right now!"

Charley gave a groan and finally looked down at her foot, twisting them an inch so that they directly faced Bucky. He gave a satisfied nod before turning around and preparing to go 'another round'. To spite him Charley moved her foot back, believing it really made no differences.

"Do I really need to learn this?"

"Yes. I'd feel much better knowing you can protect yourself. Whether it be protecting yourself from me, hyrda or someone else."

"Buck-"

Raising a hand to stop her from arguing, he said, "You've got to learn. I'm too much of a dangerous person to be around not to know how to defend yourself. Anyway, this morning you were excited about learning?"

"That was before I realized how much exercise was involved," every muscle in her body was aching. Bucky had insisted they started early in the morning, and they had arrived at the abandoned gym at around eight, now it was eleven and despite her begging for a break, Bucky would not let her, "My one day off and I'm literally in pain. I ache everywhere"

Exhaling deeply Bucky took a step back, "Fine, just show me the three block stance I taught you this morning and I'll let you have a break."

"um…" racking her brain to remember one (it _had_ been three hours ago, she deserved some slack), she modelled her body into what she sort of remembered Bucky doing. She moved her right leg behind her left and clenched up her fists but Bucky stiffened with his arms crossed, subtly shaking his head. Something about it told Charley that she was wrong, "I'm sorry!" Charley let out, standing up straight, "I am trying I just don't think I'm cut out for this"

"No one's ever 'cut out for it', you just learn," Bucky insisted, "Try again"

"Nope, I'm sorry I'm just useless," She flexed her legs out before letting herself fall onto the floor, her back hitting the boxing ring painfully. She had been really excited about this, but every time she thought she was doing something right she just got it five times more wrong and whilst Bucky was being patient with her, she could tell he was getting frustrated as well, "Let's just give up and get some ice cream. I can actually do that" as an afterthought she added, "Actually no I don't even like ice cream that much"

She was staring up at the ceiling when she felt the place beside her dip a little and Bucky propped himself up beside her. The gym was in no good condition. There was a hole in the room where a bit of debris was still left in the corner. Dusk sprinkled everywhere and Charley was beginning to feel her lungs close up because of it. Specks of mould covered the ceiling and she was sure the rest of it was going to fall in any time soon.

"You're not useless, you're a beginner"

"How many beginners have you seen that suck as badly as I do?" Charley dared to look at him. He still looked great, despite the sweaty train out session. His hair was tucked behind his ear to keep it out of the way and he was barely sweating. Although she supposed, for him, she really wasn't much hard work fighting against.

"I've only ever trained people who have had experience before," He admitted solemnly, "Hydra would bring people in they wanted to train and I was sometimes assigned to do that as a mission. I never taught them all the way, it meant they would have advantage over me but…" if she wasn't sitting so close to him she wouldn't have heard him sigh, it was barely audible, "But, I'm going to show you some of my weaknesses, that way if I was to ever relapse again, you can use against me"

"Buck, you don't have to do that."

"Yeah I do," He nodded, and then with a smile added, "But don't go blabbing what I'm about to show you."

Nodding once, she said, "no one to blab too anyway," as Bucky got up to come closer she suddenly felt a pit in her stomach bubble in nervousness. The greatest assassin of all time was about to tell her his greatest weakness, she almost didn't want to know but was aware this was a big leap for Bucky to take in trusting her.

He removed his sports jacket and dropped it on the floor by his feet, leaving his metal arm exposed. She watched anxiously, tipping her toes back and forth and Bucky flexed his arm out, the metal in the arm twisting in and out of place. It was truly fascinating how it all worked, as she moved a step closer to inspect it. She had never really looked at his arm closely, Bucky usually tried his best to hide it and whenever he was confident enough to have it exposed in the apartment she didn't want to make a big deal about it.

With his other arm he pointed at a part of his shoulder, just under the red star that was painted on but rusted over time.

"If I'm hit in between here, perfectly, it can cause a malfunction in my arm and stops me being able to control my arm for about ten seconds. You have to hit it perfectly though for it to work, if done right you would have time to get away. Not long, but the pain of the malfunction would bring me out of a relapse," Bucky told her, reaching to pick up his jacket again.

Charley didn't blink, keeping her eye on the spot Bucky pointed at as he put his jacket back on again, "How much in pain would you be?"

"It wouldn't matter."

"Uh, yes it does," Charley remarked as if it was obvious, "if I'm going to hurt you, it matters to me"

"It doesn't matter," he said more sternly, his jaw tightening and Charley backed down recognizing his 'serious voice' which meant it was one of those rare cases where arguing with him wasn't going to change his mind. Sometimes the idiot could be too stubborn for his own good, "All I remember is a few hydra agents knew about it and used to use it whenever I would get a little too much to handle on missions, and go out of control. There were three hydra agents that knew about it, and they're all dead, so now it's just you and me."

"Wow, I feel privileged to be the only one who knows that the winter soldier actually does have a weakness," in mock pride she raised a hand to her chest and gave a slow nod of the head as if she had just received an award.

Staring directly at her, Charley only just managed to hear him whisper, "I have other weaknesses, you know"

Not really sure if this was Bucky trying to flirt or not, but surprisingly liking this sudden flirty side of him, Charley decided to play along, feeling no shame in flirting back and knowing that out of the two of them Bucky was probably the one most 'out of practise'.

Moving closer she swayed her hip to the side but feeling it was too much stood back up straight again, "oh, yeah and what's that?"

"I'm slower with reflexes on my left leg," he said reaching down and rubbing his leg as if touching a particularly sore spot.

"Oh," she mouthed, Feeling like an idiot, realizing he hadn't been flirting at all, Charley stepped back and gave an awkward cough wanting to bang her head against a brick wall for being an idiot. Knowing this would be one of those moments that she ends up stifling a scream into her pillow at night when the memory is suddenly brought up in her memory again three weeks later.

However, when she looked down she was surprised to hear a soft laugh come from Bucky.

"Kidding," he grinned cheekily as Charley looked up again.

"Oh," She let out, her shoulders slumping in relief, "I hate you sometimes"

"You looked so surprised when I started flirting that I couldn't resist"

"I'm not going to lie; I was shocked that the winter soldier actually knew _how_ to flirt"

"I've flirted before," Bucky defended raising his hands as if genuinely insulted by what she had just said.

"Ninety years ago?"

"Eighty _nine_ years ago, I'll have you know," Bucky wagged a finger in Charley's face who giggled uncharacteristically, it came out of nowhere and she winced at how girlish and shrill it sounded afterwards.

"You don't need to flirt you can just talk Romanian and it's basically the same as flirting"

"asa crezi?" he smirked as Charley glared, mainly because she found it so sexy but she had no idea what he was saying. He could be insulting her for all she knew.

"Don't," She insisted but couldn't help but break out a laugh, "I will literally beat you up" raising her fists that still had the boxing gloves on in a playful threat.

"Let's see what you've got then," Bucky opened his arms out, accepting her 'challenge', "I'm going to go at you in slow motion so you have time to think about what to do."

Bucky used his right hand to 'swing' a punch at Charley, although his _slow paced_ hits were still relatively fast, as Charley just about had time to duck under his arm, something she had seen a character in an action movie do once before but Bucky still managed to 'stab' her with the mock plastic knife that he had held in his metal hand that Charley had overlooked.

"You're leaving yourself open," he told her again, "and you didn't watch my other arm"

"Ughh" Charley rolled her head back in frustration, "why do I suck so badly at this," spying her bag in the corner she abandoned all thought of learning to fight and realized it was probably coming up to lunch time anyway, "I need some food, we'll come back to this later"

"You need to learn this, doll," Bucky insisted but she had already sat crossed legged, with her bag zipped open and a lunch box in her leaving Bucky rolling her eyes as she had managed to pack in ten brownie slices, cooked to perfection, into such a small box, "that's your lunch?" he raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I don't know why you still get surprised. Yes, yes it's my lunch, I mean I suppose I can share" she took out two and passed them to Bucky, who, despite his previous judgement, accepted them willingly.

She had cooked them herself, the previous night before and Bucky hadn't been in as he had insisted cleaning up the abandoned gym so there was less debris everywhere. By the looks of it he had done a good job as despite the large bit of rock in the middle of the hall, the floor was clean apart from the dusty partials.

Bucky took a bite into the brownie and took his time to indulge into the delight. When he finally chewed the bite he nodded with satisfaction, "These are much better than how they used to make them"

"How did they used to taste?"

"The last time I remember having a brownie was in the 30's, as after that everything got rationed and you were lucky to have some cheese on the table, but before that they tasted really bitter. These are amazing though," he said the last bit through chewed mouthfuls as he engulfed the brownie in one.

"They're good?" she asked and Bucky nodded, eating his second one just as quickly, "okay good because I was thinking of bringing them to the annual Target Halloween party that Aiden always holds. Everyone always brings a dish and last year I forgot and everyone thought I was really rude"

"Halloween?" Bucky frowned, "Do kids still go about dressed up asking for candy, I know that was a trend that started during the war"

"Yeah," Charley nodded remembering how she would go out with her sister and brother each year dressed up as pathetic ghosts made out of one sheet of cloth and knock on people's door asking for sweets, "The Halloween party is also fancy dress…" With a hesitant look up she began playing with the hem of her sports shirt, rolling it up until her stomach was almost showing, "Do you, uh, want to come with me?"

"To the party?" Bucky's eyebrows rose, "I don't know, how many people will there be?"

"It's just all my work colleagues, I'm not friends with many of them so I'll probably just blend into the background" she admitted sourly. It's not like she was hated, she just had been too shy to talk to anyone when she started and it ended with her making no friends there. There was a few she could have light chatter with, but they weren't exactly friends, "but I kind of have to go because otherwise Aiden, my Boss, holds it against you, and he hates me enough as it is"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea…" Bucky swiped a hand through his hair, which Charley was beginning to understand was a sign he was nervous.

"It's cool if you don't want to, I understand, I was just thinking that since it's the one day of the year where it's acceptable to dress up it would be the perfect disguise," as an afterthought, she added, "I mean you could literally dress up as the winter soldier and no one would have any clue."

"When is it?"

"Next Wednesday?"

Bucky folded his arms in thinking. For a moment she wished she had never asked she didn't want to put Bucky in a situation where he was uncomfortable but she always hated these parties. They have a Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter one as well and it would always remind Charley of just how much an outsider she was in there. It would help having Bucky by her side, especially considering how attractive he was and it would be a nice F-you to Aiden who knew she had no friends in the workplace and liked to rub it in her face.

But she understood if Bucky couldn't take the risk that he might be noticed. It was obviously bigger than her feeling a little isolated from everyone else-

"Alright," Bucky nodded taking a deep breath in as if he had had to develop the bravery to commit to the event, "Just as long as my costume can completely hide who I am, and my arm obviously"

"I was thinking Captain Hook"

"As in the villain from Peter Pan?"

"Phew, I'm glad you know who he is, I don't think I could have explained the story of Peter Pan," Charley said, eating another brownie within one bite, "But yeah him, it would give you an excuse to hide your hand, but honestly if you don't want to go, it's fine. I understand"

She felt quite selfish for bringing it up and surprised Bucky had agreed so easily. Usually it took more convincing, but she knew she was being ridicules. She could be lonely for one night if Bucky decided not to come, and him not coming was probably for the best anyway.

"No, I want to come," He nodded, leaning down to sit beside her, "I want to see what's so wrong with all your work mates that they're not friends with you"

"It's my fault, I was really shy when I first joined and I kept to myself," she explained, drawing her legs up to her chest, feeling a little chill begin to breeze into the gym. It was probably because she hadn't exercised at all for the past ten minutes and she was beginning to cool down. She reached over and grabbed Bucky's sports Jacket that he had taken off and pulled it over her shoulder, "It's alright, it's not like I see them outside of work"

"What costume are you wearing?"

"That's a surprise," Charley smirked. She hadn't actually chosen yet, she had pinned it down to three options. It was the only good thing about these parties, that she got to dress up and not be judged for it as there was always people who looked worse in a costume than she did (whether it be the overly slutty costumes or the middle aged, balding men attempting at being funny or trying to fit in with the youths. When will they understand that an iron man onzie will not suit them?)

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Half an hour later they were back to training, Bucky claiming that it was important that she learnt and although Charley didn't want a repeat from the other night with the thunder storm, she also knew that it was entirely her fault. If she had only remembered the water gun, they wouldn't be in this position.

"Bucky I know what to do, you've told me a thousand times!" Charley groaned as Bucky went through once more the technique on how to get out of someone strangling you. He had been going through it much more slowly now, which she was grateful for, but now she was tired of hearing the same thing over and over.

"I'm making sure you know what to do," Bucky said earnestly. He held his metal hand up in the air and flexed it into a fist, "If Hydra or-" he gave a small cough, "I, ever strangle you, you'll need to think fast to get yourself out of there."

"I know, I know"

The training session ended when Bucky pretended to strangle Charley as an exercise and he ended up with a bloody nose when he had touched a tickle spot on Charley's shoulder and her reflexes caused her to lash out and throw her arms up in the air to get him off which ended up making a crushing contact with his nose.

He fell back, clutching his nose letting out a groan and Charley instantly reacted by going to his aide still shaking off the ticklish feeling in her neck that was making her giggle.

"I am so sorry; I should have warned you I'm ticklish. I didn't think I would react like this"

"It's- it's fine," Bucky insisted, wiping the blood off with the side of his sleeve. There was only a small bit of blood, but his nose had gone black and blue.

"Are you sure? When your nose is bloody it usually means differently"

He twitched his nose upwards, wincing a little but making no sound. Charley had to refrain from laughing by biting her lip as he twitched his nose three times in a row making him look like a cute rabbit.

"I don't _think_ you've broken my nose," Bucky said with a stiff laugh bringing his bloody hand down back to his sides, "I'm impressed, doll. I knew you had it in you"

"it's slightly bad that it takes you tickling me to get a decent reaction out of me,"

Bucky's smirk grew, "So tickling, eh?"

"Don't even think about it"

Before she could even take a step back Bucky had tackled her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her inwards, his non-metal hand tickling her sides lightly causing her to throw her arms up in the air in an attempt to wriggle free from his grasp. Buck's grip was too strong and she had no success.

"Buck-bucky, s-stop it," She managed to breathe in-between giggles.

"Looks like I've found your weakness."

Bucky stopped tickling her for a moment, giving her just enough time to say, "Clearly not, I did good damage to your nose. This is a superpower." At this he went back to tickling her, but Charley wriggled a little too much, accidently locking her legs around Bucky causing him to lose his balance. He managed turn his body just in time so Charley landed on him rather than the dust covered floor.

"Ah," Charley let out but still laughing just as hard. Bucky released his grip and she was able to roll off of him, by his side, "I told you it was a superpower, that's the second time I've injured you" she said, resting her head against his shoulder, a gleaming look dancing in her eye.

"I didn't know it was such an achievement to injure me"

"It's not every day you cause damage to the winter soldier"

"It's been a long time since I've been elbowed in the face, I'll admit"

"See, _superpower_ ," She said in a deep mysterious voice, whilst twisting her hands around in the air as if she was controlling some mystical force, "I'm more powerful than at first glance-"

"- You've got chocolate brownie on your nose… it's been there the whole time oh powerful one."

"Oh," quickly, she moved a hand over to her nose to rub it off but she couldn't find the exact spot. Beside her, Bucky sighed, reaching over and with the side of his hand, gently brushed down her nose and onto her cheek, resting his hand.

In his move to brush of the chocolate on her nose he had, had to turn in closer.

Her leg was draped around his. She wasn't sure when it had happened, probably when they had fallen and they never realized. She was almost amazed by how flushed she could get at their closeness, or how fast her heart beat where her heart was having to pump twice as hard in order to make up for the loss of oxygen because she forgot to breath.

"We should get back to training," Bucky whispered quietly, his voice cracking on the last word causing Charley's lips to turn up into a smirk, glad she was having the same effect that he was having on her.

"Yeah…" She replied unsurely. Nevertheless she moved in closer, resting her hand on his chests, moving before she was even able to think. Knowing that if she did she would have turned the other way and would be up on her feet already in order to avoid the pressing things she was feeling right now, "or we could do something a lot more fun"

She wasn't sure where this new found confidence had come from. This was the second time she had taken action of her own and come onto Bucky. It wasn't like her at all. Bucky brought this side of her and so far she certainly wasn't disappointed by the results.

Bucky's eyebrow turned upwards with interest, "fun?"s

Just as they were about to kiss loud bangs pulled them away from each other, turning around to inspect the noise. Beside her, she felt Bucky tense, his shoulders became stiffer and his arm tuck over Charley's waist, pulling her closer.

"Someone's out there," he whispered in her ear, only just loud enough for her to hear it.

Body becoming stiff she managed to ask, "Who is it?"

Her heart began racing in a different way than before. With Bucky it was the adrenaline that she got a kick out of, and butterflies erupting in her stomach. Now her head was spinning, contemplating what was about to happen next if what Bucky was saying was true and there really was someone outside. What if it was Hydra?

A bang cracked through the door again and this time they could visibly see the door shake as someone tried budging their arm into it. Whoever it was they weren't trying to be very subtle with their technique.

When Bucky didn't answer she whipped her head around to face him. With wide eyes she asked, "What do we do?"

"Go," Bucky was standing in a blink of an eye, using his metal arm to pull Charley up with him. Before she knew it, she was up on her feet beside him, "Hide behind something"

"We don't know who it is yet"

" _Go_." Was his final word as he lightly pushed on Charley's shoulder to force her to move further away from the door. Just as she managed to hide behind the fallen debris she heard the door slap open, followed by the sound of a collective cheer of joy. It was quickly cut short, however and their footsteps came to a halt.

Charley peered over the side of the debris and saw an awkward exchange occurring.

By the now open door was five boys, all dressed in hoodies with the hood pulled up over their head and three were holding spray cans. At the other end of the room Bucky was standing motionless looking between the boys with his metal arm tucked behind his back. On closer inspection, she saw he was holding a knife in it. She wondered where he had got it from, had he had it on him the whole time? Or was it just lying about?

"Get out," Bucky growled at them, daring a step forward. His voice was so dark she had to double take, realizing this was the winter soldier version of Bucky that she rarely saw. The boys didn't need to say another word as the seeming leader took control, turning straight around and patting the other boys on the back to make a quick dash. When she heard their muttering's disappear, Charley finally popped her head back up from the debris.

"Not going to lie, I got proper panicked then," She admitted with a bitter frown, dusting her trousers off from the dust that had left marks over it, "You had me worried. I thought Hydra had found us or something"

"It was better to be safe than sorry," he said, "They could find us whenever, we weren't exactly hiding on our way over here"

His eyes hadn't been taken off the door. Thinking she knew where this was leading, she reached a hand out and smoothed her hand over his shoulder, making him aware of her presents. Whatever train of thought he was leading down, he pulled out of it, suddenly turning to face her, his features softening as he did.

"You better not be thinking about leaving again," She glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"No," Bucky shook his head, "It's just every time when something like this happens, I'm just reminded I can't live normally"

Charley shrugged, "lucky for you I'm bored of normal," she tried winking suggestively but she did it with her dodgy eye where she couldn't wink, and ended up just blinking intensely at him with both eyes. She tried again but as much as she tried she just couldn't blink with her left eye, "I give up" she groaned.

"You really know what turns a guy on," Bucky laughed, reaching down and picking up their gym items and collecting them together to put in his personal duffle bag. Charley smiled, watching him as he did so.

She wasn't sure what they were now. They had kissed three times, but all of them had been spur of the moment kisses and she wasn't sure if they meant anything. Nothing had changed between the two of them, apart from the fact Bucky seemed to be a lot more relaxed around her as of late. He was flirting easily, more fluently than Charley was even able and it had been ninety years since he had flirted with anyone.

Did she want anything more to happen? Of course she did, but she was too scared to make the next move, in case it wasn't what Bucky wanted. She didn't want to pressure him into anything or make him feel like he had an obligation to go out with her.

How would 'going out' with the Winter Soldier even work. The last time they went out for a meal, Bucky disappeared for two weeks.

Deciding not to think ahead and instead live in the moment she reached down to pick up her fallen boxing gloves. As she passed them to Bucky to put in his bag she gave him a perfect wink with her right eye.

 **A/N reviews:**

 **Alice Williams: omg these food ideas are great. Thanks! I'm definitely going to get round to using these ones (also you made me hungry, I just ate a whole cake to myself). As you can see I've already used brownies for this chapter.**

 **Alybaly1: I'm glad you're finding it worth while, seriously I was worried that last chapter wasn't good enough but thanks! I hope you find this chapter just as great. *hugs back harder*. No, but seriously, thanks so much for complimenting my writing. It's lovely to hear after spending hours on a chapter so thank you! Damn, all of those foods sound amazing. I've not tried any of them, I'll need to look into that**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: that is literally the reason I got stuck, I'm glad you understand** **On my previous fics I've always been really bad at developing relationships. Hearing you say its not progressing too fast gives me so much reassurance so thank you!**

 **Lara Barnes: Thank you so much! I feel he's going OOC in the recent chapters as it becomes more romantic but I'm trying to stay on track of Bucky. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Artemis7448: SPAGHETTI IS SUCH A GOOD ONE (actually all of your thoughts are but I'm annoyed I didn't think of spaghetti myself) I'm definitely doing one of those soon. Tho next chapter I've decided is 'cotton candy' which will be interesting.**

 **KnightOwl247: Again I'm sorry for how long it took me to update last chapter. But thank you so much, seriously this is one of the nicest reviews, I didn't know you were enjoying it so much as you were. I'll try to continue the good chapter streak!**

 **Valoankea: aww, thank you so much. Yup, Charley's pretty good at convincing Bucky to stay put, the idiot can't leave her behind. Thanks again so much! Hope you enjoy this one!**

 **Guest: Thanks so much for the selection of food choices! I was seriously stuck. I'm going to have to make a list of all of the amazing lists that you guys have come up with but cotton candy is definitely going to be next chapter!**

 **Inperfection: THANK YOU SO MUCH! This review was lovely to read so thank you. I was planning on having them 'pretend the kiss never happened' cliché but I wasn't sure how I would end up developing it on from there so I thought screw it, why can't Charley be confident for once. As you can see in this chapter she is most definitely regretting being trained by him, but the two of them will continue until she gets better. So expect some more training chapters** **. Not giving too much away but a maybe date is coming up soon (*cheeky wink*). That's a good idea with having the food represent a emotion like with the liver. I like that idea, escpecially when it starts coming up to the civil war scenes and there isn't a lot of time to eat some food and make it significant enough to be the chapter name. lol. Thanks so much for your help! YOU GOT TO MEET SEBASTIAN STAN! Did you talk at all or was it just outside the convention you met him? That is my life time goal to meet him (him and Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell). Every time I think about my 'almost' meet with Anthony Mackie I cringe because I could have met my idol but stupid panicking got in the way lol.**

 **Crazehfreakbesasseh: glad you're enjoying it! Hope you enjoy this one just as much!**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP WITH THE FOOD CHAPTER TITLES! I NEED TO START CREATING A LIST OF HOW MANY GREAT IDEAS YOU CAME UP WITH!**

 **Love you all and hope you enjoy the chapter!**


	18. Candy Floss

**Chapter 17:**

It took Charley half an hour to coax Bucky out of the bathroom where he was getting changed into his costume, after he insisted at least twenty times that she should just go without him because he looked too 'recognizable'.

"I'm not going without you and I'd have made my costume for nothing," She said through the door, smiling a bit when she heard Bucky give a deep sigh. She took a step back, waiting for the door the open.

The door knob gave a slight twitch as if Bucky, from the other side, had momentarily gone to open it but rejected the idea again before it was suddenly pulled open quickly like a band aid. Charley, who had been expecting to have to hold back laughter (why else did he take so long coming out) was pleasantly surprised. He looked nothing short from good looking. His left arm was an extra three inches longer with a plastic hook at the end of his metal arm, which was covered by a velvet sleeve. It wasn't exactly the replica of the 'Captain Hook' costume she had wanted to get, as the costume store had sold out so close to Halloween, but a typical pirate look that she was pleased to say suited him well.

"I don't know what you were complaining about to be honest," Charley insisted, "If I didn't know it was you I would have no idea."

It was true. He had drawn on a fake beard and the costume had come with an eye patch too but she doubted he would wear it. She wasn't sure what the problem was, Bucky had gone out wearing less unrecognizable clothes than what he was wearing now.

"It wasn't really that," He admitted, tugging at his hook which Charley had a feeling was annoying him, "I feel a bit stupid. The last Halloween I remember I was on the front lines, and dressing up was just for kids."

"You don't have to worry about that, everyone dresses up now a days," Charley told him with a smile, trying to reassure him, "and about looking stupid. Firstly, you don't. Secondly, there's always someone who dresses like a slutty iron man. It's them you should be concerned for"

"You're sure no one will recognize me though?"

"Literally, I'm one hundred percent sure, unless anyone at the party is looking specifically for The Winter Solider. They won't know," as an after thought, she added, "Perhaps steer clear of Olivia, a girl who works there, she's a big Captain America fan and might recognize Bucky but I doubt it under everything you're wearing."

Finally, Bucky gave one curt nod, agreeing to come. Charley thought that even if someone did see the resemblance to the wanted Winter Soldier she doubted they would call him up on it, in case they were wrong and just accused someone of being an assassin. She was sure he would be fine, but once again Bucky was on edge and as Charley pulled her own costume over her head he wouldn't stop pacing.

"Buck, stop worrying. You literally went to the Captain America exhibit with a cap on, if this costume doesn't disguise you I don't know what will."

At her words, Bucky swiftly turned around to face her and opened his mouth to respond but quickly shut it again when he saw Charley dressed in her costume. Instead his lips curved upwards into a smirk.

"What-What is it?" realizing his sudden change in expression, she tried to look down at herself seeing it there was any dirt or stains on the sheet she was wearing but found it hard to look down, "why are you laughing?"

"Is that _all_ of your costume"

"it is." She said darkly, and began to glare at Bucky before realizing he probably couldn't see her from under the sheet.

"You put a lot of effort into it"

"I did actually, you don't know how long it took me to measure my eyes in the exact right position of the sheet, and then cut it so it was long enough to be a ghost but short enough so I wouldn't trip, because let's face it, I'm likely to trip over it, even with the sheet only reaching my knees."

He costume consisted of her wearing a sheet over her head with nothing but eye holes in them. If she was honest, she had completely forgotten about her own costume, too preoccupied with finding one for Bucky that would successfully cover up his arm and make him unrecognizable. She preferred it this way anyway. She didn't have many friends at work and remaining anonymous under the sheet was exactly what she wanted. She at least wouldn't have to deal with her Boss, Aiden, pestering her to do more over time.

"At least I won't lose you in a crowd," Bucky said, still traces of a laugh hung from his lopsided smile that was tilting upwards into a smirk. She swatted his shoulder sending him a glare, "I thought ghosts weren't able to touch things" with his grin widening, he added, "guess you won't be able to touch me all night, to make your costume even more realistic than it already is. I know it'll be hard for you"

With her cheeks reddening, she decided to respond to the insult on her costume rather than attempt at flirting back which would only cause the both of them embarrassment, "Excuse me, my costume is realistic enough as it is. I don't want to overplay it, people might get too scared thinking there really is a ghost in the room" she did a weird action with her arms where she attempted to look ghost like, moving her arms in a wavy fashion, "see, so realistic"

"Is this you telling me you're not going to keep your hands off of me?" Bucky raised an eyebrow, a playful glee shining in his eyes.

If possible, Charley's cheeks reddened further, despite her desperate attempts to inwardly stop them. Her and Bucky hadn't flirted, and especially not kissed since the café. Their relationship was at a stalemate. Neither wanted to move forward in case they had gotten the wrong idea about what either one wanted. Charley wasn't entirely sure what she _did_ want. Bucky had become her closest friend and she wasn't sure if Bucky was even ready for a relationship. He had been brainwashed for the past seventy years. She couldn't blame him. She also wouldn't blame him if Charley was a little too… dull for him. She wasn't exceptional. She was so normal that it was a wonder why Bucky had even stuck around for so long.

She shook her head of these thoughts before she delved too deep. She wanted a nice night out with Bucky, she wasn't going to ruin it with her self-doubt.

She took a look at the clock on the wall which read 5:30. The party had already started.

"We'd better get moving if we want to get there on time," she said, grabbing her car keys before realizing she would actually have to take off the white sheet in order to drive. The sheet limited her vision by 50%.

The car journey was a long one. They had gone through Charley's Avril Lavigne's CD twice before she turned it onto the radio. She changed it to a different channel, one that played music Bucky might be familiar with.

The party was being hosted at Aiden's place. He hosted the party every year and took great pride in it, reminding everyone at work that he was the one who paid for all their drinks and food at the party, so would _really_ appreciate them doing overtime.

Charley got stuck at a pair of traffic lights right next to a fun fair which was decorated completely for Halloween. Portable rides had been set up in the shape of scary ghosts and vampires.

"That looks fun, and it's on our route home" Charley acknowledged, "If the party gets boring we could go here. Which, I'll tell you now, it will be. Especially if Aiden's hosting"

"I remember the funfairs we used to have in Brooklyn, it was a little like this but there was less there," Bucky smiled down, thoughtfully.

"I think they have bumper cars!" Charley's face lit up as she stretched in her seat to try to look over the low fence of the funfair, we have to go there now.

Behind them a car beeped.

"Doll, the light."

"Don't call me doll," Charley turned to face him whilst frowning and glaring simultaneously, still hating that nickname

The car behind beeped again.

"The light is green…"

"-Oh"

Quickly she changed gear and made a move to roll forward, but by the time she had put her foot down to accelerate the light had already changed red and a chorus of shouts from the cars behind could be heard.

Charley swore, looking behind her to see the cars behind her giving similar swearing gestures. She heard one lad give a shout, yelling 'fucking women drivers, I've got places to be'.

Charley sunk a little in her seat, feeling stupid. She was relieved to hear Bucky's howl of a laughter beside her as he had to clutch his stomach but he stopped quite suddenly and tensely stared at her.

"Do you think I could have a go at driving?," he asked, sounding unsure of whether he was allowed to even ask.

"Not you too, is my driving _that_ bad?" Charley chuckled but unbuckled her seat belt nevertheless. Bucky clearly missed this as he proceeded to shake his head.

"No, no, not at all. You're a great driver, I just want to know what it feels like. The only time I ever drove was when I was on missions or was being driven somewhere else _by_ Hydra," he said.

Charley understood this. She loved to drive, it was the freedom of driving that was so attractive to her and knowing that Bucky had never experienced the freedom of it was what made her hurry up out of her seat to switch before the lights changed.

"Hurry up then," She ushered when she was out of the car and Bucky was still staring at her as if expecting her to say no, "the light'll change in a sec'"

Bucky raised his eyebrows with understanding and hurriedly unbuckled his own seat belt and took off his hook hanging of his hand, before running around the car to swap. As he did so the young boy in the car behind was nodding his head encouragingly.

"Yeah, let someone know what they're doing take over, love" he shouted from his car. Charley blushed a deep red and pulled open the passenger side door and ducked inside, deciding not to respond to the sexist remark. Bucky, however didn't appear next to her in the seat and Charley turned in her chair to see what was taking him so long. She turned around just in time to see Bucky, surprisingly and uncharacteristically, stick his middle finger up at the driver before getting into the car himself.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

They arrived at the party. He lived in a house rather than an apartment. Pumpkins were outside on the lawn, leading up to the double glass stained doors. Only one pumpkin had a face drawn into it, it was roughly done and Charley wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a derp face or scary face.

They followed everyone else up the lawn (Bucky had to run back to the car as he had forgotten his hook but was beside her again within seconds).

"You forgot this," Bucky held up her ghost sheet in his hands looking annoyingly amused as he passed it to her. Charley had thought it would be such a good idea to use the sheet, as it hid her face but now that she held it in her hands she could see how much of an idiot she would look wearing it, especially as every other woman who had turned up at the party and who were making their way inside was wearing short revealing costumes. With a knot in her stomach she saw Bucky looking at them but his face remained unreadable.

She gave a cough of annoyance, "let's go inside."

She threw her sheet over her, thinking about what she _could_ have worn. Would Bucky have found her attractive if she had worn something a little more… revealing? She shook her head, she was being silly. She had never been concerned about what she had worn before in front of him. Why now?

She was just about to stop herself from delving deeper into these thoughts when she caught the eye of a few of her female colleagues looking over their drinks, eyeing Bucky. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice and had gone over to get them drinks.

She was being stupid. He was the winter soldier for goodness sake, he didn't come to the party looking for a date. In fact the only reason he had come was for _her_. Yes, she was being ridiculous.

But the doubt did not seize in her mind when Bucky returned with two drinks and handed one to her.

"One of us better not drink," Charley waved her hand to say no to the drink when she realized it contained alcohol, "we have to drive out of here"

"I can't get drunk, something to do with being a super soldier" Bucky admitted, pushing the drink into her hand (not that she could drink it under the sheet over her head) "unless you _want_ to drive, which I'll pretend not to be insulted by. My driving was great."

She couldn't argue, "It actually was," she said sounding surprised which caused Bucky to raise his eyebrows, "I was expecting you to be shit. Although I suppose it was sort of illegal letting you drive, considering you don't have a license"

"So you _do_ want to drive?"

"no, no," Charley quickly said, moving her sheet so she could fit her drink under and take a sip, the alcohol instantly burning her throat, "I mean, I think harbouring a wanted man is also slightly illegal, but I dunno… maybe not"

"Slightly," Bucky cocked his head to the side with a grin that caused Charley's knees to go weak.

Behind Bucky she saw the women begin to not so subtly eye up Bucky again. She wasn't sure why. They couldn't even see Bucky's face with his back turned and even if he was facing them, his fake wig was a good cover. She didn't know who the woman's name was but recognized her. She worked the Thursday shift with her and would non-stop talk about the boys she had sex with.

With a big chug of her drink she downed it in one, "I'll be back," she said with every intention to go get another drink.

She passed through the crowd feeling suddenly really hot and took the sheet off from her head, her hair sticking to her forehead in sweat. There was so many people in the house that she had to squeeze between them uttering a small 'excuse me'. As she passed girls in the house she was constantly comparing herself to them. All of them were donned in make-up and Charley hadn't even thought to put any on. Suddenly very self-conscious and wishing she had never took off the sheet from her head she filled her cup up from the bottles opened and left on the kitchen counter.

"Oh it was you under that ridiculous thing," She heard the drool of her Boss's voice, Aiden, "Well it certainly was a creative choice for a costume," Trying hard not to roll her eyes, she swung around and put on the fakest smile she could muster.

"Hey Aiden, great party," Aiden gave her a look as if to say 'of course the party's great. It's _his_ party after all'. With a scornful expression, she added, "and your house is lovely"

"Yes, I was given a large sum of money from my deceased grandparents," he surveyed the house as if he had only just noticed it and with a gleeful expression said, "don't you live in a small apartment?"

Feeling a little insulted she snapped back, "Most young people do. At least I'm living off my own wages" as soon as she said it, she inwardly cringed. She was supposed to have stopped after the first sentence and make it sound casual like she hadn't been bothered by him insulting her.

Aiden opened his mouth to respond but before he had the chance to fire her she took a large stride away from him, "I need the loo, I'll be right back"

Whose idea was it to come to this party again? She thought as she rushed away quickly, having no idea where the toilets were and going into the closest closed door she could find and shutting it promptly behind her, still feeling Aiden's eyes on her as she dashed away but hope he had lost her in the crowd of people who had turned up.

She really did not know what she bothered coming. She had thought with Bucky coming she might at least enjoy herself a little but she didn't even want to be with him, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in front of all the other beautiful (albeit half naked) women in the room.

There was a knock on the door and Charley jumped away from shock.

"Charley, are you alright?" came Bucky's voice, "I just saw you run in there."

She surveyed the room for the first time and saw it was a dining room she had run into where everyone's coats were stored but the room was delved into darkness and the only light that was shining into the room was from the outside lamp that illuminated through the stained glass.

"Yeah, I'm alright," But her voice betrayed her, "I'm just finding my coat"

"Charley…" he said through the door, "you never came in with a coat"

"I know." Charley admitted, slowly opening the door. She'd forgotten Bucky was dressed as a pirate and was a little taken aback by his appearance but nevertheless took a step forward and swooped her arm around Bucky's back, into a hug. He didn't say anything but responded to the hug, rubbing her back affectionately.

Usually Charley wasn't a great lover of hugs. It was one thing that made her feel claustrophobic being the one to receive the hug. But in this instance, it was something she needed.

"I just forgot how much I hate working for these people," she said miserably.

"Did someone say something to you?" Bucky pulled away and looked at her with deep concern in his eyes as he placed one hand on either shoulder to steady her, "Was it Aiden?"

"No, no it's fine," Usually something Aiden had said usually wouldn't bother her, but she had already been feeling low about herself and Aiden really had a way of pushing her buttons, "let's just enjoy the-"

"I don't know why Aiden doesn't just get rid of her," the group of girl's beside them conversation was being dragged over, "No one even knows who she is, except Aiden who's always complaining about her being late"

"Are we talking about the one dressed in the ghost outfit?"

Bucky's hand on her shoulder suddenly became stiff and he stopped staring Charley in the eyes, but rather to the left as if he was concentrating on something else.

"Yeah, she looks like she's dressing for a kids party," another one of the girl's giggled and then said in a low voice (which Bucky had to crane his neck a little to hear), "does she even have any friends?"

"Why would she?" barked another one, "did you see she came to the party with a bloke… it's like she's asking the poor guy to cheat on her when she turns up dressed in a sheet and then there's everyone else is… well let's just say more appealing clothes. I mean she's not exacl unattractive but I'm sure the guy can do better than her"

Charley had heard enough. Her thoughts had been confirmed. Even others could see that it was ridiculous that Bucky was hanging around with her. It was clearly true, and she turned to leave, but the gang of women had realized that their conversation was no longer private. One took sight of Bucky and Charley standing mere feet away from them and quickly tapped their friend on the shoulder to grab their attention.

"Oh, shit-" The woman muttered before turning around, "Uh, hello…" her eyes rolled to the ceiling as if she was pretending to remember something before saying, "…Sorry, your name's just slipped my mind-"

Shuffling one foot to another she opened her mouth to respond but Bucky beat her too it.

"Charley." He growled deeply, "Her names Charley"

"Buck-" Charley hurried to grab Bucky's shoulder as he advanced forward and for a moment she was actually frightened for the woman who had no idea what Bucky was capable off and was simply staring at him with raised eyebrows, looking him up and down as if she was appalled by his behaviour, "it's fine, c'mon let's just go"

"Oh I'm sorry Charley. We haven't spoken much, must have been why your name just slipped out of my mind," the woman gave a nervous chuckle, "You work on the clothing department don't you, jeans… right?"

"That's right"

"Good then," the woman breathed, clearly relieved she had gotten some facts right about Charley, "it was good meeting you then"

She turned her back on Charley with what looked like every intent on walking away but Bucky called her back.

"Aren't you going to apologise?"

She carried on walking as if she hadn't even heard Bucky's plainly obvious shout. By this point, there was on lookers who was wondering what it was that made the man dressed as Captain Hook so angry, that he had to have a person dressed as a ghost hold him back (although Charley's sheet had fallen at her feet in her rush to stop Bucky).

Bucky glared past at the woman whose head was disappearing in the crowd.

"You're causing a scene, Buck…" she whispered in his ear, "You didn't want to draw attention to yourself, remember"

"They were just plainly talking about you behind your back," he said in an outrage, still peering over Charley's head to find the woman, "I'm going to get her back here so she can apologize"

"She'll deny she ever did it and then what are you going to do, torture her," her voice was low on the last bit as eyes around them grew more curious. Her words, however, had a strong impact on Bucky whose shoulders instantly slackened, "just leave it. I'm used to it by now"

"You shouldn't have to be used to being treated like that."

"Honestly after everything that's happened over the past few months, after hearing everything you've been through, it really doesn't seem important," She shrugged, "So what if a couple of girls get so bored that talking about me behind my back is their only source of entertainment" she said it as if it wasn't bothering her, but really the nagging feeling in the back of her head was repeating the words that they were right, over and over.

"Anything that upsets you is important to me," Bucky said dryly, still seething inwardly at the woman who had walked away.

"That's sweet of you but it's not worth getting fired over," She said gloomily, "Anyway, I kind of wanted to go to that funfair anyway"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Charley sat silently in the car, her arm rested up on the window whilst her head leant on it. She was watching Bucky drive. Surprisingly, he was pretty good for someone who had probably never driven normally on a road. He made a few blips here and there, where he forgot to indicate, but nothing too bad. She had thought, however, that he was having to concentrate extra hard. She swore she kept seeing him look sideways at her, as if checking he was doing it right.

Beside her, Bucky let out a long drawn out breath.

"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothing," She shrugged simply, trying to look as casual as possible, "Just tired"

Bucky raised an eyebrow but kept his eyes on the road, "You didn't wake up until eleven this morning…"

"really? Feels so long ago," she added in a yawn for effect, hoping maybe that Bucky would believe she really was tired.

"What those girls said is bothering you, isn't it," it wasn't a question.

"No"

" _Charley_ "

"It isn't, I'm just-" she was about to say 'I'm tired' again but Bucky passed her a sideways warning glare which kept her from lying again. Instead she began to fiddle with her hands in her laps, there was a thread on her skirt that was coming loose and it was much more interesting to pull at that rather than stare at Bucky, "I just don't get it. I don't get why you've stuck around for so long when you probably have other more bigger and important things to be getting on with"

"Like what?" Bucky asked.

"Well I know for a fact you're desperate to continue tracking down Hydra, to finish them once and for all. I just don't understand why you've stuck around. That's all"

"Maybe because of you…" He concluded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

As he said this, something felt as if it was being lodged at the back of her throat and she struggled to speak but managed to let out, "That's ridiculous" in a small voice.

"Why is that ridiculous?" Bucky said with a small chuckle, as if thinking Charley was the one being ridiculous.

"It just is," She sighed. She wasn't really sure what she was getting at. All she knew was that Bucky could do much better than her. Much, much better…

Bucky used the indicator this time and made a sharp left keeping his eyes heavily trained on the road. Charley thought it was the end of the discussion until Bucky let out a heavy breath and as if he was reading her mind, concluded, "I've stuck around because you make me feel normal. I don't have to worry about bring the Winter Soldier with you, you just accept it" Charley was surprised, almost shocked, when she heard his voice crack but he continued on anyway despite it, his voice remaining strong, "And I don't deserve it but you accept it anyway. You've never looked at me in fear, _never_. I can just be a guy on a date with a girl and not feel as if it's wrong or shouldn't be, because of who I am."

She looked away briefly, dwelling over everything Bucky had just admitted.

"Well that's a bit of a lie," Charley cocked her head at him, "I was scared of you when we first met but to be fair I thought you were stealing from us and I _had_ only just read the news report about the helicarriers"

"I was more scared about what you were going to do; I thought you were going to ring the police"

"I'm not going to lie; the thought did cross my mind"

They settled into a silence and Charley sat, relieved, going over everything Bucky had just said to her in her head, smiling lightly at it. Then she remembered something he had said.

"'A guy going on date with a girl'?" She repeated.

"What?"

"That's what you said"

"No I didn't"

" _Yes_ , you did"

"Slip of the tongue," Bucky shrugged, once again focusing very hard on the road before him, his hand gripping the steering wheel tightly.

"I was kind of picturing it as a date as well," Charley confessed sheepishly, feeling the heat in the car whizz up, "A terrible date but it's only your second try so who can blame you"

"Second? Did I miss our first"

"When we went to that restaurant"

"With you parents?"

"I didn't say that date was perfect either," she rolled her eyes in a teasing manner, remembering the awkwardness between her parents and Bucky. Although at that point they had no idea who he really was, "maybe I'll give you another chance to redeem yourself at some point"

There was a silence before Bucky replied, "I might just take you up on that offer"

They pulled into the funfair. It wasn't as busy as it was the first time they passed it as it got later but the rides were still open and it didn't seem as if it was going to close anytime soon. Charley noted a five dollar entry fee and pulled her purse from the back seat, suddenly worried if she even had enough to pay for it. Unclicking her purse she saw she had ten dollars, meaning they would only have five dollars to spend inside.

After they had paid to enter, Bucky grabbed Charley's hand and ran straight for the portable claw machines as Charley exchanged with him, his hook for a few cents that she dropped into his metal hand. She was taken aback by him giving her his hook as his metal hand was now exposed but he was quick to pull a black glove from out of his pocket.

"These games are rigged, you're meant to pay loads only to get something once you've spent it all," Charley told him as he slotted the cents into the machine full of, "you have no chance"

"Watch me"

He moved the stick about and for a moment Charley thought that he had managed to catch the bear as it lifted into the air half way until bears arm slipped from the claw.

"Unlucky," she laughed as Bucky's face grew even more determined and his jaw became set in place. She passed him a few more cents.

It took him until he had spent two dollars of Charley's money to win the bear (his sixth attempt). Charley had got bored of watching him fail and her interest had been caught watching a little boy dressed as Captain America play fighting with his dad as he threw his minute plastic shield and bashed his dad on the head who dramatically fell to the floor as if he had been defeated.

"Got it," Bucky held up the bear in his arms with a wide grin as he passed it over to her, "told you I'd get it"

"How long did it take you?"

"Only twenty minutes," Bucky smirked as she cuddled up to the soft bear.

Half an hour later they were chewing on candy floss. Charley had to resist a laugh when half of it got stuck in Bucky's wig which he effectively ripped it off and threw in the bin, leaving his head exposed and making him look more like _Bucky_ than he had done all night. He didn't seem to mind but she noted he was keeping his face down more. She ended up sharing the rest of her candy floss with him

"Right, I've only got two dollars left. Want to waste it on the bumper cars?" She suggested jingly her money in her hand with a smile. Bucky shrugged, probably not knowing what a bumper car was, and followed the jumping Charley who shouted over her shoulder, "I'm going to destroy you"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The journey home didn't seem as long as it had been to travel away. Bucky was still laughing at how Charley had almost flung out of her bumper car when a five year old accidently had swerved the car into hers, catching her by surprise and almost sending her flying, had it not been for the seat belts.

When they got home, Mabel jumped from the couch to greet them and began to paw at Bucky's feet who reached down and gave her a small stroke before standing back up again at Charley's level.

They were divulged in darkness as Charley hadn't bothered to turn the lights on, and she could just about make out that he was staring at here.

"So was that part of the date better or worse?"

"Worse," Charley replied sarcastically, "most definitely worse. I mean you're going to have to do a lot now in order to redeem yourself"

Bucky didn't need to be told twice as he leant down and captured Charley's lips with his own.

Charley dropped the bear that was tucked under her arm and allowed it to fall carelessly on the floor as she was surprised by Bucky's sudden crash onto her lips. He took a step, placing his hands on either side of her head. She was quick to respond as she deepened the kiss, snaking her arms around his back to pull him closer still, his chest colliding with hers.

Her mind had gone blank and she was no longer in control of her body as she took hold of the scruff of Bucky's collar and took a few steps back their lips still connected as the back of her legs hit the couch and the two fell onto it. Bucky was on top of her now, and instinctively she wrapped her legs around his waist. He used this to his advantage and leant down to attack her neck with kisses, a delightful chill swam up Charley's back.

But as quickly as the feeling came, Charley's senses came back to her as she quickly placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder to gently stop. For a moment he looked confused and propped himself up, using the arm of the couch to keep himself from falling on her.

"What's wrong?" Bucky asked her nervously, a small fear in his eyes as if he was worried he had done something wrong.

"I don't know if I can do this," She admitted.

"oh right," Bucky said, getting up, "yeah… sure… um, okay"

"No, wait," She caught his arm before he could completely get up, he sat back down immediately, waiting for her to give an explanation, "I don't really know what I'm doing"

He frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Uh… I've never had sex before"

In the darkness, Charley could just make out Bucky slightly widening his eyes in shock.

"Really?"

"Yeah I know, pathetic. Right?" As much as she tried she couldn't stop her cheeks from flaming red, feeling the heat on her face. She watched him carefully, waiting for any sign of a reaction from him feeling he was never going to look at her the same.

"Well that makes two of us"

"Yeah right," Charley stared at him, "There's no way that seventy years ago _you_ were a virgin"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I can't remember. Can't have been _that_ good though if I can't remember." He gave her a soft smile before leaning down and giving her a small kiss on the head and with that sending a message that they didn't have to do anything until she was ready.

She couldn't believe this man. She couldn't believe that this man, only a few months ago, had been the world best assassin and here he was making Charley feel as comfortable as possible and caring so deeply about her that she felt as if she didn't deserve someone this amazing.

She opened her mouth to say how much she appreciated this but closed it promptly, when the only thing she wanted to say to him was that she loved him, but she didn't think _he_ was quite ready for that commitment yet.

Instead she leant over and hugged him, burrowing her face in his shoulder and whispered a thank you she didn't think he heard.

 **THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR REVIEWING AND YOUR ADVICE AND IDEAS, love you all**

 **artemis7448: Yes, I'm looking for more fics to read. You know when you're done reading a fic and then cba to look for another one but WANT another one to read. I'll have to check this fic out right away.**

 **KnightOwl247: don't worry about it, I've taken so long to update this chapter. I feel kind of bad. So is this something in the comics? Because I think it's brilliant, because yes, charley is the exact type of person to randomly say it. So does it shut the 'winter soldier' in him down? Because that's a brilliant idea. I don't know where I'll put it but I think I'll definitely have to put it somewhere in the story. Thank so much for the idea and reviewing! :D**

 **haileynh: thanks so much**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: sorry for taking like half a month to update I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter and hope they're just as cute this chappy. Let me know, I love hearing from you :D**

 **Inperfection: thank you so so much for this review. Loved reading it :D I kind of feel bad about making Charley a little more self conscious in this chapter but her confidence will rise again I promise** **. It is my life long dream to meet hayley atwell. Did you talk at all or did you just see her? Also sorry for taking so long to update :/**


	19. Spaghetti

**Chapter 19**

He lifted another box and moved it to its proper position before hauling himself up and taking a look around. There was another fifty boxes that needed to be moved within the hour. With a heavy sigh he walked back over to the other side and picked another box. The routine he had been continuing all morning. He could already feel the strain in his arms and if it wasn't for the super-solider serum running through his veins he was sure he would have passed out by now, as was evidence from the other guy he was working with, whose face was a gruesome sight as sweat pooled from his forehead.

"Nearly done," Chad, his 'co-worker' said with a bitter frown before heaving a box over his head with great effort.

Charley had said this would be the perfect job for him and she was right. He wasn't there long, only two mornings of a week and he was done by mid-day but it was enough time to think through everything as there was no one to speak to other than Chad, who he was glad to say preferred to work in silence. It gave him time to clear his head, something he hadn't been able to do for awhile.

He was also away from the public eye as there was a door separating him from the public floor. The door had a thin glass, see through strip in it where he could see out and sometimes (if he was lucky) he would see Charley walk by.

She had once stood, for half an hour, in the same position, right in his eye sight from the door, folding jeans. He tongue sticking out in deep concentration as she tried to straighten a pile. It was the first and only time Chad had ever told Bucky off for having low productivity.

"You know, for a newbie, you're pretty good at this," Chad noted, resting a heavy box on top of three smaller boxes. All of them wobbled under pressure.

Bucky shrugged in response, not sure what else he was supposed to say.

"How did you come about this job anyway," Chad asked curiously, taking a two minute break as he rested against a few boxes in order to regain his breath.

"My friend works here, she found it for me"

"I'm glad they hired you," Chad replied off handily, "you get through three times the amount of work than anyone else has managed to do and I was constantly doing over time in order to get it done on my own – sorry, what did you say your name was again?"

"Uh, James," he said knowing he had never told Chad his name in the first place.

"Oh yeah, that's right"

They settled down into silence as Chad went back to heaving up boxes and a thick vein looked like it was about to burst on Chad's forehead as he picked up the final box of the day.

As soon as his shift ended and lunch hit, Bucky was quick to escape the small stuffy room where now all of the boxes had been filed on top of one another on one side, hiding the wall from sight. He met up with Charley outside who flung her arms around him with a wide grin.

"You ready to go then?"

Bucky gave a nod, wanting to get out of there quickly as he could see Chad coming out of the building and towards him. Wanting to avoid social contact he took Charley's hand as she happily made her way down the busy street of shops and towards the carpark. Bucky couldn't quite literally remember the last time he had felt this sense of freedom. His cap was still firmly over his head but he no longer felt as if everyone was staring at him and guessing onto his real identity. Part of him wanted to take his cap off, it was hot day which made it uncomfortable to wear a hat. But, with a bitter thought, he knew that would be unwise, anyone could recognize him.

Over the past few weeks, he had noticed Charley had been happier than ever. She was talking with her family more through the camera (something called Skype), she was often waking up before him practically begging to get an early morning training session in where she was making vast improvements, and she no longer complained about the long hours of work.

It made him happier seeing her like this, it was as if the events from the party had never happened.

He never wanted her to believe that _she_ wasn't worth his time, when honestly it was the other way around.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Despite the cold winter weather soon approaching, the sun shone over the park. Charley instantly ditched her denim jacket and dangled it over her arm. Her eyes searching for an empty bench, as most were being used. The park was busy today and Bucky pulled his cap low over his eyes, spotting a group of five kids dressed poorly as each of the different avengers battling each other by the riverside.

As soon as Charley had found a bench, Bucky sprinted off around the park as she tucked into her lunch. It was their natural routine. Charley (who always had a bigger lunch that Bucky) would sit at a bench under the tree and enjoy her meal whilst Bucky would spend his lunch running around the park.

He liked to test himself, to see how fast he could run in one sprint. He never had the chance to experiment with what the super solider serum had changed in him as every time a mission had been completed he was frozen all over again.

"You might want to slow down a bit," Charley commented, having not even finished half of her sandwich yet after Bucky had completed a whole lap, "You're going a bit inhumanly fast. People might think it's odd," Bucky felt her eyes search his body, "Not that you don't look good"

"That's not even the fastest I can go," Bucky took a breath as he sat down opposite her, "Sure you don't want to come for a run?"

"No," she snorted between bites, "simply keeping up with you walking was enough exercise, thanks"

After promising to buy her chocolate, he managed to convince her to do one lap with him and leave her lunch behind.

Charley's little legs stumbled across the gravel. Bucky beside her doing a casual stroll, occasionally sensing a glare being sent in his direction. As she leant over to catch her breath, Bucky could no longer supress his laugh.

"You laugh now -" she took a desperate gulf of air, "- But when I've died of a heart attack, you'll miss me"

Bucky had to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing further as she went to take another step and her legs gave way beneath her, causing her to dramatically fall flat on the ground. A sudden flash of a memory swept through Bucky's head, as he got a sensation of deja-vu. Charley groaned into the ground but his concentration was focused so hard on trying to recall more of this memory that he didn't see Charley reach a hand up for help to stand.

He couldn't recall more than a few seconds of this memory. Of a blonde lanky boy running beside him, whilst he shouted warnings at the boy to stop and take a breather.

"Steve, come on, give it a rest," Bucky called behind him, no older than seventeen, as 'Steve' struggled to keep up, "You've proved your point"

"Just five more minutes," Steve shouted back. His face pooled in sweat and his skinny legs struggling to make each stride and his arms falling uselessly at his sides. The boy looked as if he was on the verge of collapse.

Bucky pulled to a quick halt, sensing Steve's rapid gulps for air and before Steve could make a grand escape and run past him, Bucky pulled an arm up and caught Steve by his shoulder, stopping him from moving despite his attempts at dodging the arm.

"Buck, It's only another five minutes. I'm not going to collapse and die, I promise"

Bucky cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow, noticing the black bruise around Steve's eye, still healing from the fight he had gotten himself into, a week ago. He looked like a desperate mess that was on their last legs.

"Take your asthma pump," Bucky said clearly. Steve looked away with a frown and Bucky threatened, "Or I'll tell your mom"

Although he threatened it, he knew he wouldn't. Steve's mom was already frail and weak, she didn't need the worry over her head that her son wasn't looking after himself. Bucky knew Steve rarely took his inhaler when he was short of breath.

"I don't have it with me"

" _Steve_ "

"I lost it. I don't need it anyway, I'm fine"

" _Steve_ "

"Don't tell my mom. She already worries enough!"

"Yeah I know," Bucky replied quickly, disapproval swimming through his voice, "That's why you're an idiot"

"Give me a hand," a feminine voice pulled him from his memory quite suddenly, "I think my legs have stopped working"

Suddenly back in reality and realizing he must have been dazing off into the distance, Bucky quickly reached down and held a hand for Charley to take. With a wobbly stance she managed to stand and held onto his shoulder.

"I'm blaming you for this," She said, "I'm going home and I'm sitting down for the next three hours and won't be moving"

"Do you have asthma?" realizing he had said it out of nowhere he finished off explaining, "it's just I got a memory of when I was young and I was out running with Steve and he has asthma"

"Oh right," Charley's eyes widened, "no, no I'm just super unfit"

She dared to let go off Bucky's arm and take a few steps by herself but ended up collapsing into laughter and Bucky had to quickly reach forward and catch her before she fell clumsily onto the gravel again.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I literally can't walk," She giggled, "I'm literally so unfit, I can't walk after running for a little bit"

People were beginning to stare at Charley as she giggled uncontrollably, half on the floor and half in Bucky's arms. Her laugh drawing out a grin on Bucky's own face. Usually knowing people were staring in their direction caused Bucky to go tense. What if they recognized him? That would be dangerous for her. This time, however, he didn't care.

"You're hopeless," Bucky laughed along with her, "get on my back. I'll carry you to the car"

"No, no, I can do it," she took a single step and managed to move forward but then fell limp again, she seethed and her hand jumped to the back of her leg, "I think I've pulled a muscle or something"

"Are you kidding?" Bucky's eyebrows rose, "you were only running for a second"

"As I said. I'm unfit," She limped backwards until she was beside Bucky again, having to lean on his shoulders for support "So about that piggy back ride?"

"Get on" he sighed, turning his body away from her. She hopped on and Bucky began on a gentle stroll across the rest of the park, "this was your plan, wasn't it?"

"What was?"

"To carry you to the car," he teased, craning his neck to look around at her as she rested her chin on his shoulder a blazing smile clouding her face, "I bet your legs are fine, you're just too lazy to walk yourself"

"Maybe…" She cocked her head to the side mischievously, "You needed the exercise anyway, I feel you've been going easy on yourself when working out" Bucky glared at her before a smirk slowly slipped onto his face, "What's that face for? Buck- Buck… ahhH! Shit, I'm sorry, I take it all back!"

Bucky had begun to sprint, holding his metal arm behind him to keep a hand on Charley's back and locking it in place so she had no chance of slipping as he ran as fast as he could, even with Charley on his back (who was as light as a feather) he was able to run twice as fast as any regular man. She clung onto him, pulling her body closer to his. He was hardly complaining.

He pulled to a sudden halt, right by the bench in which they started at, having done an entire lap with Charley on his back.

"Now what do you say?" he teased as Charley quickly jumped off with her left leg having to support her right one.

"Alright, alright," Charley breathed, wind-swept and leaning on one side "I'm sorry. You're in perfect shape and I will never ever question it again"

"Good," He beamed proudly.

After that, they spent the good part of an hour discussing Charley's training. It was conversation Bucky was content with. He knew what he was talking about. It was a conversation they usually had as they were finishing in the abandoned gym but today the two them had to leave early in order to get to work (which Bucky kept forgetting about. It was an entirely new concept to him, working).

He went through her weaknesses first, things to improve on for next time.

"You make it too obvious which hand you prefer," he said in his 'teacher tone' as Charley sat listening perkily her body leaned in as she was truly intrigued by his advice.

"Why does it matter?" She shrugged, "Surly as long as I hit them where it hurts it doesn't matter if they know which hand it's coming from"

"Because it opens up your weaknesses to them. Gives them the chance to asses their next move"

"And in a fight, you asses _your_ every move?"

"Yes"

"Bullshit," Charley said in a high pitched, squeaky voice, "There's no way you can think that fast in the middle of a fight"

Bucky nodded and Charley shook her head, refusing to believe it.

"No, there's no way," she said stubbornly.

"Do you know which hand I prefer using in a fight?" he held up his hands, both of which were hidden by woolly gloves, which at least looked a little more appropriate now that the weather was beginning to get chillier.

Charley's brow furrowed together in thinking, "well I suppose you'd prefer your metal hand, because it's stronger so has more advantage in a fight"

"No, actually, cause enemies underestimate this arm so are usually watching my metal one more carefully," he replied in a low voice.

"That's actually quite clever," she thought aloud, having never thought of it that way, "So, what, I'm meant to punch with my left hand instead of my right"

"Just don't make it obvious which hand you're going to use to punch them because it gives them time to block it," Charley opened her mouth to once again argue her point but Bucky raised an eyebrow, "we'll go through it next time. I promise"

"Can we go now?"

" _Now_?" he repeated, "But we only trained this morning. Aren't you tired?"

"No," She shrugged and then added lightly, "Why are _you_?"

He gave her a sideways glance, "What about your leg? I thought it was hurting? Or was that really just a rouse to make me carry you"

She reached a hand down and examined it, letting out a long stretched hiss as she straightened her leg to taste it. For a moment she looked at it with concern and then shrugged, saying simply, "If I was being cornered by someone, I couldn't just say 'hey don't fight me, my leg hurts', I'd have to pull through. So I might as well with training"

He was glad she was taking it so seriously, but it was no reason to hurt herself further. She had already been taking the training a little too seriously. He was half glad that she was learning to fight back properly, but half fearful that she was expecting to _be_ attacked.

She had gotten up at six in the morning to go to an early training session, something that he had never witnessed her doing (she usually didn't wake up until after ten) and then gone to work for another four hours, constantly on her feet – albeit, her work wasn't as tiring as his but he was a super soldier, the workload was a smooth workout for him if anything and she was still insisting on doing to do more training, especially when not five minutes ago she was gasping for air. He was amazed she was still willing to do more.

"If you hurt your leg any further you might not be able to go to work, we'll go first thing tomorrow"

She didn't argue this time and accepted that Bucky knew best in this situation, even though she scrunched her nose up in distaste.

"Well if I can't do that can I do my next favourite thing and go home and eat?"

"Next favourite thing?" his eyebrows rose, "since when has eating become second on the list"

"I actually really enjoy training," She nodded with a grin but Bucky knew the grin was for other reasons that just learning to defend herself. After they discussed her weaknesses and strengths, it would always end with Charley pointing out Bucky's weaknesses and that included her planting surprise kisses on his lips where she would then proceed to knock him on the floor after being distracted.

He also felt that for once, his years as being the winter soldier, had not gone to waste as he was now able to share what he had learnt with Charley to enable her to protect herself better. Knowing he was in some ways protecting her was always a positive.

"Anyway, I was thinking spaghetti. I don't think we've had that together before"

"I like spaghetti," Bucky nodded in agreement, but then the sudden feeling of being home sick befell him at the idea of spaghetti. He wondered if mother had used to cook it for him. _No- no, it was Steve's mother_ , He thought clearly, "Yeah, I like that idea"

She got up and Bucky followed her out of the park.

As they came closer to the car park they could see the kids dressed as avengers still playing but Bucky spotted the boy dressed as the arrow man, standing close to the road and staring at it with determination.

Curiously, Bucky followed his eye sight and saw him staring at a fake rubber arrow that must have been thrown out into the main road where countless cars were whizzing past. With a fearful jolt, he realized the kid was planning on making a move to retrieve his fallen arrow as he climbed over the park fence.

Charley hadn't seemed to realize as she was busy staring fearfully at the geese in the pond, trying to avoid them as one, out of the water, had waddled up to her.

The kid had already began crossing and there was a car coming at full speed.

There wouldn't be time to stop-

The winter soldier within him was reawakened but instead of his mission to be attack it was instead to save. His body began working mindlessly as he launched himself at the road. Charley didn't even have time to notice his disappearance as he made it in time to wrap his arm around the kid's waist, who had picked up his arrow and was staring at the car like a deer caught in headlights.

He felt the car zoom past, the wind swept his hair in to his face as he landed with a thud. The car screeched to a halt behind him, having pulled to a successful stop without running anyone of them over.

Bucky's body shielded the boy as he looked up in shock at him.

"You- you, saved me"

Not sure what to do, he offered a hand to the kid and helped him onto his feet. But he was still in shock at almost being killed and only looked at the hand as if he wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Grant!" a voice of who Bucky presumed was the mother's shrill shout as her heels clicked against the pavement and she came rushing over, trying to run as fast as she could without tripping in the ridiculously high heels, "I told you never to go to the road without me. My baby, you could have been run over"

She knelt down and nestled her son into her chest who suddenly looked really embarrassed.

"Mom, I'm okay"

"that's the last of these stupid arrows we buy you – do you hear me?"

"It wasn't the arrows fault, it was mine-"

"You're right" The mother agreed, sternly, pulling herself away and looking her son in the eyes, "how many times do we have to tell you about road safety. You stop, look, listen and then cross and even then you should still have mommy with you. Do you understand?"

"Bucky!" Charley caught up, hobbling as she held her legs, "Fuck, oh my god. Everything happened to quickly. I looked away for a second and the next thing I see you just jumped in front of the car and I thought you'd been hit, I thought you had a death wish or something, I didn't see the kid. My heart seriously stopped for a second and you're there, with the kid and I tried running over but my leg still kills and now I'm here. _Oh my god_!"

The mother of 'Grant' only just noticed Bucky standing there. She turned around and with difficulty in a skin tight dress and heels managed to get herself back on her feet and pull Bucky into a hug.

"You saved him!"

"It was nothing," Bucky shied away, noticing the people forming a crowd to see what was happening. The man driving the car had gotten out and was trying to apologize but the mother waved him off saying it wasn't his fault and turned back to Bucky.

"It wasn't nothing, my son could have died!"

"I'm sure someone else would have stepped in. I just got there first"

Charley knocked his sides and glared at him, giving him a warning to stop being so modest.

"No, no. how can I repay you?" with a jolt, Bucky realized she was pulling out a cheque book.

"You don't need to do that"

" _Yes_ I do"

After some convincing he managed to get her to put the cheque book away. He didn't have a bank account anyway, all his earnings that he got from the store went to Charley – under his insistence, even though Charley had given him her pin number and told him to just ask for her card if he wanted to get something, as 'her money was his', he knew he would barely touch it. He felt too bad about living at hers cost-free.

Eventually the mother pulled her kid away still lecturing him about road safety in a harsh tone.

Charley tugged at his hand and turned him to face her.

"Seems someone's a hero"

He shrugged, "It was nothing"

"You saved his life," she said sincerely, "He would have been hit. Stop being so modest" he looked unconvinced, so she added, "You know, it's not a crime for you to admit you did a good thing"

"It is for me," Bucky admitted in a quiet voice, "doing one good thing doesn't make up for everything I did in my past"

"Anything you do against your will is not your fault, Buck," She held out her hand for him to take, "You have nothing to redeem yourself for"

He looked back down at her hand and then up at her face again. She was right of course (she usually was) but that didn't stop him from believing he was at fault. He knew he wasn't in control, but he still did it all. Last night he had woken up drenched in sweat remembering the face of a red headed woman who he had shot through the stomach with his precise sniper skills.

"Let's just go eat some spaghetti, I think I know how to cook that" he sighed, knowing it was no good arguing and took her hand. The two walked up the path together. Now that the child avengers had run off back home, the park suddenly seemed much quieter and Bucky wanted to stay a little longer. The peaceful quiet of the park was calming as the voices in his head telling him that he will never be a hero, and he'll never be anything that Charley deserves came ringing in his ears. Exploding in his mind.

"Now do you put vegetables in your bolognaise because honestly, I'm not about that"

 **A/N**

 **Okay so I feel this was a filler chapter but I promise next chapter will include a lot more onto the plot and lead up to the Civil War plot line.**

 **Buckstan: thank you so much for the review. I'm never sure if I'm writing Bucky right so I'm glad you think his portrayal in this is on point. I also want to keep on track of the Civil war plot line, which is when he will first see Steve, but, however, now when Charley first meets him.**

 **Kitxo: sorry for taking so long to update, hope you're still reading and enjoying!**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: the costume idea was actually something one of my friends did at a Halloween thing, she is who Charley is based on actually (she literally wore a sheet with holes in…). I'm glad you enjoyed the end of last chapter, I'm now just as excited as you are to see where their relationship goes because from here on out I have no story plan except a few major bits.**

 **KnightOwl247: I'm going to have to include his shutdown code at some point because that could become vital for the civil war plotline, especially since Charley is involved. And thank you so much!**

 **Sergeantjamesbarnes: why thank you I'm glad you think the chemistry between the characters is good. I wasn't too sure myself when reading it through, I wasn't sure if Charley was a little too dull for Bucky but if you think it works then I guess it's all good. I don't think Bucky will truly ever adjust to normal life, especially with the shadow of the winter soldier but I think another thing to note is Charley's a little niave when it comes to Bucky and doesn't understand the dangers, and probably isn't expecting her having to sacrifice the normality in** _ **her**_ **life in order to be with Bucky.**

 **Haileynh: Thanks so much!**

 **Artemis7448: Thanks so much for the review and compliment! I'm glad you enjoyed**

 **Lara Barnes: You're right, Charley's not very confident but Bucky'll definitely help with that :D I'm just sorry for taking so long to update (again. I know I'm terrible)**


	20. Bacon & Eggs

**Chapter 20:**

Whilst she enjoyed the sparring sessions with Bucky in the abandoned gym. It had left her in quite a bad state. Bruises now sported her arms and legs and she had quite a nasty gash across her back where she had fallen on a brick in the abandoned gym (something Bucky didn't even know about and it would stay that way).

Now she was having to wear the thickest jumper she could find to skype with her parents.

She was sitting strategically in her the space of her lounge. Her legs were crossed with her laptop resting on her knee, which only gave the camera a view of her face, creatively blocking out the untidy state of the room from her cleanliness driven mother from the camera eye (who had dedicated an entire day to cleaning the room last time she was here)

"How's the money? You coping?" a pixilated version of her dad asked from the computer screen.

"Yeah, Bucky's got a job now," she told them. They were aware of Bucky's return months prior as her parents had kept badgering her with countless questions about the 'winter man' who had killed loads of people and when or if he was returning to their daughters home. She felt she had owed them the right to tell them. They only wanted to know she was safe. It meant, however, that her skype conversations had to be perfectly planned for when Bucky was out so her parents don't demand to talk to him and give him the 'parent' talk, "he's working with me at the store, in the delivery room"

At present he was visiting Peggy to see if she knew any locations of the graves of the howling commandos. She had lent him her car to drive.

"Well at least he's proving himself to be able to provide," her mother stressed sternly.

"You make it sound like we're getting married or something," Charley rolled her eyes, "He knows he doesn't need to help with money, I think he just wants to. As I keep telling you he's a good guy"

"If you so insist"

With reassignment, Charley sighed. Arguing was going to get her nowhere, "let's talk about something else"

"Okay then. I suppose you want to know what's happening our end then," _not particularly_ , Charley thought, trying to supress an eye roll wondering what gossip her mother would concoct, "Ellen finally got a job, the pays not that good, I think it's about the same as you get but at least she can help with the bill. _Which_ I've been asking her to help out with for ages, it's about time. Christie got engaged, wonderful isn't it. She's a little upset you won't be able to be there for the wedding, but I understand, flights costs loads but you could make an effort to send a card or present at the very least…" her mum droned on but Charley wasn't really listening.

She nodded and hummed a 'yeah' every now and then so her mum would continue, whilst her thoughts turned to Bucky. She knew her parents strongly disapproved of Bucky, and she understood why. She really did. She would be just as concerned if it was her child, so she tried to mention as little of Bucky as she could in her conversations with her mother (although she insisted on bringing him up, no matter _what_ they were talking about)

Things at the moment were going well between her and Bucky. Despite the occasional kiss here and there (which took each other by surprise every time) they hadn't moved things further. _But_ , Charley wanted to. She just wasn't sure how to initiate it, and she knew Bucky would never suggest going further. Before she let her thoughts travel further on the situation she remembered she was still on a skype call to her _mother_.

"- gardens finally done up, I took the time to sort through a few things whilst Ellen was off at work this morning and it was my day off. I planted some tulips at the front. I think it'll look wonderful, don't you?" she tilted her head a little sideways and Charley realised suddenly that she expected an answer from her.

"Yeah…" Charley answered unsurely, hoping it would suffice.

"Yeah, I was thinking of some roses too but I don't know if they would look good. What do you think?"

"Roses sound great-" before her mum could interrupt again, Charley racked her brain for an excuse to cancel the call. Not that she didn't miss her mum but she couldn't lie and say she missed the constant mundane gossip, "Look, I've really got to go. My dinners burning over there. I'll call you back tomorrow?"

"Oh," her mum let out, looking a little crestfallen, "Well yes, I suppose. Speak soon, love you"

Just then the door clicked open and Charley was quick to slam her laptop lid down before her mum could catch wind of Bucky's entrance into the apartment and question her further. She span around to see Bucky giving her a suspicious look.

"I was talking to my mum," She explained, "I knew if she saw you she wouldn't shut up"

"Oh, okay,"

In one hand he held a shopping bag with all of the preparations for their dinner that night, and in the other was a small slip of paper with something written on it in scrawled hand writing.

"What's that?"

"Peggy gave it to me," he raised it in the air, "it's the location of one of the graves" he placed the shopping back on the kitchen counter and then steadily looked more carefully at the slip of paper.

"Do you want to go then?" She went to get up

"um, I don't know if I want to"

"Why not?" Charley frowned, "I thought you wanted to as it would give you closure"

She was met by a long drawn out response of silence. Bucky continued to stare absently at the piece of paper, his eyebrows furrowed together deeply in concentration as if he was expecting the paper to disappear from his hands.

Charley didn't utter a word to push for an answer from his but came around and began to unpack the food he had bought, some of which had to be put into the refrigerator quickly before they defrosted.

It reached the point where she had forgotten she had been talking to him when Bucky spoke again. His voice hoarse and low as if trying to hold back tears.

"It's never going to be the same," Bucky admitted so quietly that Charley had to drop the carrots she was holding and move closer, "The good days where we were fighting Hyrda. I want to know that they had a good life after the war, but knowing that makes me wonder whether that could have been me if I- I hadn't-"

"-if you hadn't fallen from the train," he didn't talk about it much. She presumed the memory of it was too painful but she had read about how Captain America's best friend: Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes had been supposedly killed in action from SSR files that had been posted online. She had also heard Bucky mumbling softly in his sleep.

 _Hold on. Hold on. Hold on._

 _Steve don't let me fall._

She wondered for a moment how different his life would be if he had of managed to hang on.

One thing was for sure was that he would have never met her.

secretly and selfishly she was sort of glad that all the events that had happened previously, _had_ happened. She would never have met him and her life would have taken a very different turn. But if she was given the opportunity to sacrifice her happiness so Bucky could go back to a time when he was truly Bucky, she would gladly do it.

"Yeah – Yeah, _then_ "

Suddenly his lips tightened into a thin line as if he was trying to suppress something and Charley regretfully realised she should have stayed quite rather than bring up the harsh memory again.

Although, she was sure he had been thinking about it.

A moment passed as Bucky regained the strength in his voice.

"Then I realized I'd probably be in one of these graves today, and maybe the world would be a better place for it-"

"Bucky!" Charley span around to stare him in the eyes harshly, "Don't say that"

"It's true, countless people would still be alive if I was dead. I remembered someone else I killed today, whilst visiting Peggy. I saw that magazine again-" he was talking rapidly as if afraid if he stopped now he might not be able to continue.

"What magazine?"

"here," He had pulled up a magazine hidden under pots and pans that had been washed and never put away due to Charley's crappy cleaning habits. Her mother would be ashamed to see her apartment in this state again (especially after she had spent a whole day dedicated to cleaning it).

The magazine was a copy of the New York times, which her dad had left behind from his visit months ago. On the cover was Tony Stark, in typical iron man stance with his left hand held out to the camera and a cocky grin spread across his face.

"Uh… Tony Stark is still alive, Bucky, unless this is a doppelganger. Which is a conspiracy theory, may I add," she added to try and lighten the mood but Bucky didn't seem to care or have even heard her as his face remained just as sour, "Buck, he's still alive. I can promise you that"

"Not him," he said quietly, "his father. Howard Stark"

"Oh." Charley gasped, "oh shit"

"You mentioned him before and I recognized his name and I thought it was because I knew him from the war but it wasn't until today that I remembered why. I told Peggy and she says it's not my fault, then she had a relapse and forgot who I was so that was great…" she noticed his jaw become tense as he stared at the magazine, frustration written over his face. Charley was paralysed, shocked beyond anything at this newfound revolution. One of the most famous celebrity deaths was due to him, a person _she_ loved and cared about deeply, "I murdered and his wife"

Bucky avoided her gaze as he moved around the table and grabbed a rucksack hanging from the back of the chair.

"Look, I'm going to go out now to this graveyard. Don't worry about coming with me-"

"No," Charley interrupted, her voice suddenly came back to her, "I'll come. Let me just-"

"You don't have to"

"Yeah, I do"

Charley quickly got dressed and ran a comb through her hair, leaving it as a controlled mess rather than the chaotic one it was before. When she came out of her bedroom Bucky was no longer in the apartment but had instead walked down to the car himself and was sitting in the passenger seat. His arm resting against the side and his back turned away from her. As she seated herself in the car he didn't even acknowledge her.

"Are you alright?"

 _Of course he isn't, you idiot_ , Charley rolled her eyes at herself, _he just found out a new face of someone he killed only to discover it was someone he knew. If he was fine, it would be a miracle._

"Me? Yeah I'm great"

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously but said no more and instead turned the keys in the car and set off with a little help from google maps.

She had a distant feeling that Bucky hadn't wanted her to come along, and maybe it would have been better if she had stayed behind this time round.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

The graveyard was beautiful. They entered through a wooden archway of overgrown vines that stretched up, twisting onto the building beside the graveyard's wall. Patches of forget-me-nots grew around the gravestones creating a heavenly field of blue and despite the summer months having ended sprinkles of blossom fell from the trees leaving a cloud-like path.

The illusion was destroyed, however, by the fast paced main road going beside them. Beeping and roaming cars echoed through the graveyard making it much less peaceful than it should be for a place of rest.

Charley ignored it and hummed under her breath to drown out the sound, eyeing up the graves to catch sight of the name: Samuel Sawyer. Most of the ones closest to the entrance had worn away, rendering them unreadable. Part of the gravestones even cracking.

"Uh, Buck," Charley said, feeling her heart stab as she went past a grave that was way too small to be in a place like this, "Are you sure this is the graveyard that Peggy meant. I've almost been through half and haven't seen one that I can actually unders-"

She stopped.

Bucky was leant down over a grave, his head ducked with his hand resting against the stone. She could make out the gravestone to be marble white, but it was facing away from her and all she could see was his crestfallen face.

She looked around and saw they were alone in the graveyard other than a single old woman placing flowers. But she was far enough away from them to allow them to have a discussion aloud.

"You alright?" She bent down next to him. She placed an arm around him but because of the position she was in, being smaller than him, it became an awkward embrace and she quickly let go and instead reached out for his hand. She could see the grave clearly now. engraved was the words 'Samual P. Sawyer'. Someone had recently placed an american flag into the soil next to it, "What was he like?"

"We called him happy Sam Sawyer. Always was smiling, no matter the situation we were in," Bucky breathed, "Seems so long ago now. The good days"

"You sound like my granddad," she smiled lightly, " _The good old days_ "

"We _are_ probably the same age"

"That disturbs me deeply," She half laughed but it was short lived as she saw Bucky straining to stop himself from crying.

"Can I- I have a moment alone. Sorry, I just-"

"you don't have to explain yourself. I think there's a town nearby," Charley surveyed the area but only seeing the surrounding trees of the graveyard. She really wasn't sure what was around here, "I need to get on with my Christmas shopping, do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, thanks"

She said nothing more and walked away from him.

There did happen to be a town close by. It was small but it had a few selection of shops. It would be a good opportunity to start her Christmas shopping, as the season was drawing nearer, and most the time when she went out Bucky was with her. She never really had the time to shop for him.

She checked that she had her card on her before setting off.

She headed into the closest shop which she quickly left as the cheapest thing in there was over three digits and she wasn't even sure if she had enough on her card. Most of the time, using her card now was a gamble on whether she had enough to pay for it, let alone paying for something _that_ expensive.

She had an idea on all the things she was going to get her family at home. Her mum usually preferred garden ornaments, her dad would be happy with any gadgets what so ever, as would her brother and her sister make-up products. The only problem she was having was Bucky.

Every day whilst at work she would be scanning the shelves for something that Bucky would like but nothing sprung out to her. She had wanted to get him a selection of presents, as he wouldn't be expecting much (although she had text her parents asking if they could get him something, just so all of his presents weren't _just_ from her) but she couldn't even think of one single thing to get him.

The only idea she had, in which she was set on until this morning, was a 'make your own world war II plane', but she reckoned that with the new revolution about Howard Stark that wouldn't perhaps be the best idea.

She still couldn't believe it was the Winter Soldier who had killed Howard Stark. One of the greatest minds of the century. A genius. A billionaire. Tony Stark's father.

From where she was the graveyard was still in view but she couldn't see Bucky. Large growing hedges shielded him from sight.

She shook her head and decided to focus on shopping and took out her phone to view the Christmas list for her family that she had already made up. Just as she pulled it from her pocket and unlocked it, however, something gray and fast snatched it from her hands.

"Hey!" Charley cried, stretching out her arms in reach for her phone that had just been taken from her. She snapped her head up and looked around for the thief and just about saw a man darting through the streets, roughly pushing past people who had stopped to see what the commotion was about.

She sped after him, her phone was unlocked, meaning he could change the password and make it his own. Not to mention her phone background was her and a clear image of the Winter Soldier. Which wouldn't at all look suspicious at all.

She also had plenty of texts towards Bucky.

"He stole my phone!" Charley screamed as she sped past the crowd, a path had already been formed by the criminal who had pushed the others out of his way. She hoped other would draw their attention to her current distress and stop the man in his tracks, "Stop him!"

She pushed herself to her limits. Feeling the burn in her chest. Usually she would be worn out by now. Her veins burned with adrenaline pushing her forward.

She was close to him now. His hoodie hood was let down and if she just managed to reach out and-

Her hands snatched onto it. He gagged, stumbling back into her.

"ge'roff me!"

"You have my phone!" Charley yelled, stumbling to her feet and diving for his hand but he snatched it out of her way. Then he got up himself, turned to Charley and smirk.

"you're crazy, I've stolen nothing," he pushed Charley's shoulders with an incredible force and she tripped back into a group of people who out of shock jumped back her body tumbled backwards further, crashing onto the floor. Her head began to explode and she was distantly aware people were gasping and the feel of hands trying to pull her body up.

"Are you hurt?" a female voice asked. as Charley blinked rapidly trying to regain some of her vision.

"Here let me help you up," Someone else said.

Charley took the hand that was reached out towards her and managed to plant her feet back straight on the ground again. A little wobbly and light headed after her fall.

She looked around again for the hooded thief but the masses of people now swarmed around her limited her view. She tried going on tip toes but her short height hardly offered a good view, as well as the fact her feet were hardly stable and as she attempted it she was caught by numerous people as she suddenly crashed down again.

"Did he steal your phone, dear?"

"Did anyone see where he went!"

"Wait here. Let me call the cops"

This managed to pull Charley from her search and the splitting pain in her head as she quickly she span around to face the voice. Instantly thinking of Bucky waiting for her at the graveyard. If they were to come here and spot Bucky things could turn sour. No, she would leave the police out of this.

"No, no" Charley put a gentle hand on the woman's arm who had pulled her phone out, "It's fine. I was planning on getting a new phone soon anyway" It was a lie. Her phone was relatively new, no more than 5 months old.

"That shouldn't matter, he robbed from you and he should be-"

"No, honestly it's fine. I won't press charges," She urged further realising with a sudden jolt that the woman had already called 911 and her hand was hovering dangerously close to pressing the call button.

"He could be charged for assult. that's a nasty wound to your head"

"Yeah?" she moved a hand to her head but saw the women dive for her phone again, "I said I don't need the police!"

"You might need an ambulance, though, dear"

"No I don't!" Charley insisted, suddenly annoyed that the woman wouldn't leave her alone.

"Just wait here. You might have concussion"

"I'm feeling fine!"

"Hang on"

"Leave it would you!" With that Charley stormed away back towards the graveyard before the stranger could dare to call the ambulance or police. Her heart thumping considerably fast in her chest, having never shouted at someone before in public. She dared a look back and found the woman looking at her quite shock and wave of satisfaction went through Charley at having stood her ground. She knew the stranger was only trying to be kind but honestly after she had said no she didn't have to keep badgering her about it!

She reached the entrance of the graveyard spotting Bucky sitting in the exact location she had left him in. Even his knees were tucked under the same way. She looked behind her again at the busy street and thought about turning back, maybe she hadn't given him enough time and didn't want to make it seem like she was trying to hurry him up, no matter how much her head felt like it was splitting open.

She took a step to leave but Bucky's keen eye caught her.

"Charley?"

"Uh, yeah. That's me," She replied dumbly.

"You ready to leave?" he asked, getting up using his metal arm as support before making his way over to her, "I think I'm done"

"Are you sure, you've not been here long"

"It was a mistake coming"

Charley frowned, unsure what words of help she could give him, "I'm sorry, Buck"

"Yeah…" Bucky smiled sadly finally reaching her. Her looked up at her and his eyes became wide spotting the whatever was causing her pain on her forehead, "Charley- what the hell?" he reached a hand up but as soon as his hand made contact Charley flinched away.

"Ow"

"Sorry- what the hell happened?"

She carefully raised a hand to her forehead and dabbed it lightly, when she looked at her hand she saw crimson blood lightly soaked into her finger.

"It's worse than I expected... maybe the woman was right and I do have a concussion"

"What happened?" Bucky repeated again, this time more forcefully as he moved closer to inspect her wound. She tried to move away, worried he was going to try and touch the spot again but when his fingers grazed over it, it was so gentle that it was rather soothing.

"Someone stole my phone"

"What?"

"Yeah, but I chased after them and they knocked me down… no biggy"

"They knocked you down?" Bucky lowered his head and Charley noticed his jaw tightening, "Did you get your phone back at least?"

"No, they managed to get away with it. Someone wanted to call the police but I said no obviously because of you but really it's no big deal, I needed a new phone anyway, it was old and useless. The guy won't fetch a good price for it," She hurriedly spoke her voice getting increasingly quick as she spotted the darkening look on Bucky's face as his eyebrows furrowed together in anger.

"Does it hurt?"

"I mean a little," She replied honestly, "but it's fine"

"What did he look like?"

"I don't know. I didn't catch their face"

"Did you see what they were wearing?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I can find them"

"Bucky. No," She said sternly, bringing up a hand to rest on Bucky's shoulder, "Look it's really sweet how protective you're being but honestly I'm fine"

"You have a gash on your head!" he roared in outrage, "it's not fine!"

"If I say it's fine, then it's fine" Charley rolled her eyes at his exaggerated behaviour. Although she was partly smiling inside at how quick he thought about defending her but she didn't need it, she would get a new phone and that was that. There was no point dwelling.

"I'll buy you a new phone. With my first pay check" he insisted further.

"You don't have to do that. It was my fault that I wasn't holding onto it," she sighed, reliving the experience in her head of being pushed to the ground. Hadn't she been training all of this time for this. To gain the upper hand over a enemy. Yes, fine, maybe he had just been a common thief but that was more for the worst. If she couldn't defeat someone who was just after some extra change how was she meant to match against hydra.

Bucky seemed to be thinking the same as he said, "We'll go do some training when we get back. Alright?"

"Yeah

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

They never went to training. Either Bucky forgot on the long journey home or he didn't feel up to it and Charley felt to blame for the silence filling up the car. Stupidly, she had mentioned Howard Stark and Bucky went bitterly quite and hasn't spoken since.

They managed to make it all the way home in cold silence.

As soon as they entered the apartment, Bucky hopped into the shower and out of sight whilst Charley inspected the wound to her head. It wasn't as bad as Bucky had made it out to be. By the way his eyes had popped open at the sight of it, she had suspected it had been deeper but there was only a spot of blood where a bit of gravel had hit it at the wrong angle and would easily be healed within two days.

She wasn't aware of when she started to cook. At one point she had been sitting on the sofa the next Bucky had appeared from the bathroom his hair still dripping, leaving droplets down on the floor wearing sweatpants and a tight fitting t-shirt. He had made his way over to the couch and with a heartbreaking sigh sat down beside her, wordlessly. It was obvious that he was miserable. Anyone could tell, she just wished she knew how to help him. The next thing she knows she's frying away eggs and bacon.

It wasn't exactly a full English breakfast, nor was it to her mums cooking standards but it had always been one of her favourites and cheered her up.

"Dinner's ready," She announced, plopping the plates on the table and brushing aside odd bits of paper and magazines from the table to clear space. It had been the first thing that had been said since they had come home, "Sorry I know it's a bit early but I was hungry"

She waited for his usual reply of 'you're always hungry' but it never came.

"You alright?"

"Yeah i'm fine"

"Okay"

She really wasn't sure what else to say.

"So do you know anymore of the locations of graves," She conversed with the first thing that popped to mind, "I mean we could go tomorrow if you wan - oh shoot, no forget that. I have work tomorrow and I've already used up all my sick days," if now was anytime to internally groan it was now. Charley shoved in the remaining pieces of her eggs into her mouth as the taste of it suddenly became not so appealing anymore as the thought of the dullness of work filled her with dire dread.

"No you don't," Bucky replied filling his mouth with bacon.

"Yes I do," Charley said, "It's Thursday. I work Thursdays, so do you"

"No," he mumbled, "Chad told me on my last shift. It's thanksgiving"

"Thanksgiv-?" She gaped. Her head darted up to the calendar that was balancing on the wall with a small bit of blue tack stuck on the back and she was surprised it hadn't fallen down on it's own yes. She managed to squint her eyes at it and read the date tomorrow as November the 27th with a small imprint of 'Thanksgiving' that she could just about read from where she was sitting.

It was the trouble with being English. Thanksgiving wasn't a holiday she celebrated and so, to her, it was just a well deserved free day off for her in which she could spend it inside watching TV. Last year she had tried to drown out the holiday, as she remembered watching her co-workers exchanging invitations to thanksgiving dinners whilst receiving no invites herself until Aiden asked her to come last minute out of pity to which she refused making up an excuse that she already had somewhere to go. Not that she needed to celebrate the holiday anyway, being British but it was just another showcase of how much of an outcast she was here.

One look at Bucky however, she decided then it was time for a change and that she was going to make an effort this year.

"Fuck. I forgot," She admitted sheepishly, "Problem with being English"

"I forgot too, it wasn't until Chad asked me what I was doing," he said, "he tried inviting me around his, which was nice I guess"

"Chad's nice," Charley had only spoken to him a few times and was sort of glad he worked away from the shop floor and in the delivery room, as he managed to miss out the fact that it was a given rule that no one was friends with Charley, so he spoke to her every so often. They weren't friends by a long shot but he seemed nice, "So, what do you want to do for it? I mean, I have literally no idea what you do for it. I've watched loads of TV shows and they usually just sit down and eat a meal, telling everyone what they're thankful for. We can do that if you want, or if not we can do something else. It depends, what do you want to do? Or we don't have to do anything at all except hang out, but I can cook a nice meal"

She was aware of her rambling but was unable to stop, suddenly excited at the idea of celebrating a holiday with Bucky for the first time and was absorbed in thinking about what she could cook. She'd never cooked turkey herself but she could have a stab at it.

"Don't worry about it," Bucky shrugged, "We don't need to celebrate it"

"Of course we do"

"Honestly, it's fine. It's too much hassle for just a days notice-"

"No it isn't"

"Charley-"

"Buck, you're like Captain America's best friend you can't _not_ celebrate thanksgiving. Imagine the irony"

"he's not my friend," Bucky muttered with a shocking harshness to his tone, "He doesn't know me and I don't know him. can we just leave it"

She opened her mouth and like a goldfish promptly closed it shut again. She couldn't remember a time when Bucky had ever raised his voice at her. She hadn't meant to push him, she had just thought that considering he had had a tough day with the discovery he had killed his childhood star and said a final goodbye to one of his team mates graves that he could do with a holiday feast. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought up Captain America. She could hit herself. Of course he was a sore spot, especially after the internal mental struggle he had been having lately.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No - no, it's fine"

She could see him looking around the living space searching for something. It was the look of frustration on his face that Charley recognised from when she was younger. When she had, had an argument with her sister or brother and needed a place to cool down and think. Luckily she had always had a bedroom to herself to vent all her troubles out, but Bucky had no such luck. In fact she couldn't remember a time when she had been _really_ apart from Bucky in the last month. Perhaps he was sick of her company.

Before he could make the decision to get up and leave the apartment, which she knew was his next option, she chose for him.

"I'll just be in my room, I've got a few presents to wrap," she had only brought one present thus far and it was a single playstation game for her brother which would take her at tops two minutes to wrap, five if she was slow about it. She just needed an excuse to leave the room and give Bucky space.

She stood up and taking her bacon and eggs with her into her bedroom where she carefully shut the door behind her.

As soon as the door closed shut she instantly regretted leaving him. W _hat if he needed someone to talk to?_ she thought, debating whether or not to go back out there but then reasoned if he had wanted to talk he had plenty of time to do it. Besides she wasn't some therapist and didn't want to force him into talking when she knew he didn't want to.

She waited by the door waiting to see if he would leave like he had so many times before. After a minute of unsettling silence, the chair scrapped against the wooden floor followed by a deep sigh. The tap run for a smooth minute before finally his heavy footsteps made their way to the couch where there was a definite jump onto it.

She frowned at the sight of her room and the lonely single Christmas present sitting at the end of the bed for her brother. Sighing deeply she made her way over to it. She might as well get wrapping this one over and done with. She didn't have anything else to do except contemplate how frustrating it was to not understand how Bucky was feeling.

She just wished she could help him.

 **A/N I know I haven't replied to reviews but I promise I will tomorrow. I just wanted to update this before I went to bed. I've literally only just finished writing it. Hope you all enjoy! and I know the stealing of the phone was quite random but I can assure you it's important later.**

 **THANKS FOR READING!**


	21. Pizza III

**Chapter 21:**

Charley woke up with a start, the blaring sound of her alarm clock ringing in her ears, echoing even after she slammed the alarm clock quite. With blurry eyes she peered over the top of the comfort of her covers and reached her hand out sightlessly for her phone before remembering she still didn't have one and instead looked over at her new alarm that said it was 6:30 in the morning. She must have forgotten to turn her alarm off for work.

Groaning, she flopped onto her back and stared endlessly up at her ceiling feeling a deep pit in her stomach that she would have to face Bucky today. It was frustrating knowing that he was trying to deal with the traumatic events of his past and having no idea how to help him.

She snuggled up to her duvet again when her cat, Mabel, got up and collapsed into the ridge of her leg once more, curling up into a ball shape.

Despite it being the early hours of the morning no sunlight was creeping under the gaps the harsh autumn months already affecting the weather and for a moment she wondered where the time had gone. It felt like yesterday it was only summer and it had been a solid five months of knowing Bucky but it still felt like it had only been days-

Her alarm buzzed again, making her and Mabel jump.

" _Shut up."_ She hissed, slapping the top of the alarm and curling back under her covers when it was quite again.

Last night when she left Bucky and retreated to her room she had stayed up for most of the night searching the internet for something to get him for Christmas. She had wanted to get him something meaningful, something he might use or appreciate. God knows he didn't have much of his own possessions. It took her until 3am to find something and she had spent more than she cared to admit on it, but it would be worth it. She just wanted to see that gorgeous smile back on his face.

Her alarm buzzed a final time signalling her to actually get up. She brushed Mabel to the side, apologizing profusely when she almost fell off the bed and pulled on a pair of sweatpants that were lying untidily at the foot of her bed.

Heavily, her legs carried her to her door where she peaked her head around to see Bucky still sleeping soundlessly on the couch.

She smiled inwardly at his sleeping form. His was sprawled across her sofa, curled around the lump of duvet that must have fallen off of him in the middle of the night.

Charley stepped into the room as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake him when he was in his most peaceful state and took a peak out of her fire escape window. The street was more packed with cars than she had ever seen it, everyone was inside celebrating thanksgiving. Having the day off was really screwing with her routine, usually her and Bucky would be up by now driving off to work, her hair still not brushed albeit but they'd be out of the door.

Bucky looked exhausted, however, and didn't look as if he would be waking up anytime soon. She supposed the events from yesterday had left him tired from overthinking.

She decided there was no point waiting indoors and doing nothing and instead make use of her day. Her lay in had allowed the sun to start shining and it looked like a nice day, one of the few they got now as the weather was preparing for the bleak winter.

She grabbed her running shoes and pulled on a baggy top before heading out with no destination in mind.

Mindlessly her feet took her to the nearby park that was completely empty for a school holiday period. There was only a single woman walking her dog and a couple in the far distance giggling to one another and holding hands, standing as closely as possible as if they couldn't get enough of one another.

 _Was she terrible for wanting that with Bucky_? She thought as she began walking trying to keep her head low and not look up at the couple that were intoxicatingly cute.

She was coming to terms with the fact that it would never be normal when it came to Bucky and if she wanted normal she would have to give up. But the thought of being with someone other than him was just not possible.

She drew arms closer around her. It was chillier than she originally thought. Perhaps she should have taken a jacket with her. The sun was now hiding behind a few clouds and the park suddenly looked a lot darker.

She started doing a brisk jog, deciding that she might as well follow Bucky's advice on fitness as he was always telling her one of the best ways to build up strength is to go for a jog (not that he managed to do it very often for fear of being recognized). She found as she ran that she was more focused on keeping her breathing steady than her thoughts on her relationship with Bucky and ended up doing a whole lap around the park before she was forced to settle into a brisk walking before she fainted from lack of oxygen and ended up right behind the couple that she had spotted from the distance.

 _She must look so alone,_ she thought sombrely. It was thanksgiving and she, an obvious unfit person (by the way she was already red in the face and breathing ten times more than the average human), was going for a run.

After she did another pathetic lap of half jogging and half walking she went back home.

The stairs leading up to the apartment felt like a heavy weight on her legs and by the time she got to the top she was hot and sweaty once again. She had only been gone no more than an hour and when she opened the apartment door sloppily, letting it fling back on its own, she expected to see Bucky still sound asleep on the couch.

But instead, when she entered, the most glorious odour reached her nose and she had to take a step back as it overthrew her by surprise. The smell of peperoni pizza filled the room as she happily inhaled it taking a moment to appreciate the scene before questioning it's reason for being there.

"Bucky are you here?"

He appeared from the kitchen doorway still wearing his night clothes and in his metal arm he was armed with a pizza cutter, glossed in tomato sauce.

"Are you cooking pizza?"

"Yea- Yeah I am," he smiled looking back into the kitchen with a sloppy grin, "Luckily you had some pizzas left in the fridge because all the shops are shut"

"You didn't have to do this," She took a step forward, closer, closing the door as she did so.

"I wanted to"

"I could have cooked us a turkey if you wanted to celebrate thanksgiving-"

"No. I prefer this"

Charley frowned, confused by what he meant by this but he retreated back into the kitchen before she could question him further. Had this been his plan all along? Or had he decided this morning? Whatever was his reasoning she was glad he had decided to celebrate thanksgiving one way or another, even if it was in their own personal way.

She moved to clear the table but saw it was already tidy. The magazines that usually gave the table an extra layer had disappeared. The table even looked glossier as if it had _actually_ been cleaned. The only thing on the table was the flower centre piece that had a fresh bouquet of flowers. Her knowledge on flowers wasn't perfect and she had no idea of the name of it but they were truly beautiful. She reached a hand out for the pink faded leaves and she had to bite her lip to stop her smile from stretching too far.

The more she looked the more she got confused; she could have sworn she had only been away for an hour. How had he managed to arrange all of this within that time?

"Bucky what is all of this?" she asked him as soon as he came from the kitchen holding two trays of pizza. One she could see was pepperoni the other vegetable, which was Bucky's personal favourite, "Not that I don't love it but I just don't understand-"

"I decided this morning, just after you left-"

"You know when I left?"

"I was awake ages before, your alarms are loud" he chuckled.

"Sorry," she cringed inwardly, "I forgot to turn it off for my day off and now that I don't have my phone, I have to use an actual alarm clock which is louder"

Before she had finished her sentence he had chucked down a slice of pizza, impossibly in one and was quickly trying to munch away at it so he could reply.

"I'll never understand your love for putting vegetable on a pizza," She scrunched her nose up in distaste as he finished his mouthful. He looked adorable trying to eat it as quickly as possible and she had to slap a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing, "Idiot"

"I shouldn't-," he gulped it down, "- have put that much in"

"That's why you must savour pizza and eat it as slowly and carefully as you can to appreciate every mouthful," she preached, "Observe." she said, before dramatically picking up her own slice of pizza and taking her time to pick it up, just before it reached her lips she launched herself at it and managed to fit half the pizza in her mouth in one, "oh shit," she said as her mouth overfilled with pizza and she was struggling to take bites, "this is harder than I thought"

Bucky's metal arm reached out speedily and grabbed the remaining slice of pepperoni pizza that Charley hadn't managed to stuff in and took onto his own plate, grinning like a school boy.

"Youdjudstolemysice!" Charley barely managed to stay as she sprayed pizza crumbs across the surface.

"The great thing is you can't steal any of my pizza's 'cause you don't like vegetable," he added grinning from ear to ear casually eating her slice of pizza with a allure of success having stolen it from her. She tried to snatch it back but he playfully pulled it further from her reach.

"This isn't fair," She huffed, clearing he throat as she gulped down the rest. She ended up giving up and dragged her plate closer towards her, protecting it so Bucky could steal no more, whilst Bucky was howling with laughter about how protective she was being over her slice. She realized then that he hadn't actually finished telling her why they were eating pizza now. What had changed his mind, "Anyway… you were saying?"

"Oh yeah," he remembered, "I was thinking last night about thanksgiving and I shouldn't have been so short with you yesterday, I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that, you were only trying to help"

"No," Charley leant a hand across the table and abandoned her pizza to hold his hand, "I'm the one who is sorry. I was pushing too hard. I should have dropped the subject when you said you didn't want to celebrate. It's not like you've got much to be thankful for after everything that's happened to you-"

She bowed her head sadly her mind suddenly turning to all the tragic and painful things he had been through. Of course he hadn't wanted to celebrate a day dedicated to being thankful for life. She suddenly looked up again when she felt the surprising smooth touch of Bucky's metal hand gently stroking hers.

"No, that's the point. That's when I realized last night that I do have something to be thankful for," he caught her gaze with a soft smile and she tried desperately to hold it but felt a blush creep onto her cheeks and in attempt to hide it, she quickly looked down at her plate, "If I'm thankful for anything then it's for pizza"

Not meaning to Charley choked on thin air, "So was this whole meal just for you to declare your feelings for pizza then?"

"I wasn't done," he glared and with a smile she shut her lips, eagerly waiting to hear what he had to say, "I'm..-" he frowned and abruptly broke his gaze away and Charley gripped his hand a little tighter, telling him to go on without words, "I'm thankful for pizza because without it I might not be with you and Charley, I really don't know where I would be without you. I would have probably have killed myself if you weren't here. I- I need you to know that because I'm thankful to you for letting me have a second shot at life and that, with you, life isn't as bad"

There was a beat of silence. "Buck, you know you mean the world to me right?" she rolled her lips into her mouth trying to stop her voice from cracking, "and I-" _I love you_ , she wanted to say. She wanted nothing more in the world than to tell him but it wasn't the right time. He was still healing and they had only just started their relationship. It could wait. She thought of something else, quick to say and settled with something that was equally as true, "I can't imagine how different things could have gone if you hadn't have come into the store on that day. _I_ need _you_ to know that I'm thankful for you too, more than anything. Just don't ever think about leaving because I don't know what I'll do. I'd probably die of worry, just don't-"

She was cut off by a pair of soft lips covering her own. She stopped breathing, thinking and talking all in one. Her eyes slowly closing as she leaned further into the kiss and focused all her attention on kissing him back with everything she had in her. Somehow the two stood up in synch, breaking the gap that the table had between them and slamming their bodies closer to one another. Her lips moulded into his hand rested on her hip, slowly moving to her back and drawing her closer.

She regrettably had to pull away for a gasp of air. Something, with his super soldier stamina, Bucky didn't seem to need. Letting oxygen fill her lungs once more wasn't nearly as satisfying as losing all her air by kissing him and she was almost willing to just kiss him senseless and not worry about taking a breath.

"Wow," she summed up.

"I don't deserve you," he said, his eyes brighter than she had ever seen them. Clearer, almost. He cupped her cheek cascaded a thumb across it sending intoxicating shivers down her spine.

"'Course you do," she whispered before throwing her arms around him again, a new desire in her to show him how much he deserved her. He was quick to respond taking steps towards the couch but Charley changed direction and grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt, still kissing him senseless and pulled him into her bedroom. She hadn't realized how small her apartment was as within seconds she had tripped over her bed and laying on it with Bucky eagerly exploring her, taking his time with every inch. Moving from her lips down to her neck where she lurched back groaning at the feel of his touch.

Quite abruptly he pulled away and Charley, thinking everything that had just happened had just been a wonderful and amazing dream, slowly and carefully opened her eyes to see him still above her, resting his hands at her sides to keep himself up.

"Are you sure? We don't have to do anything you're not comfortable with-"

She rolled her eyes and brought her hand up to the back of his neck and pulled him down again so that their lips connected with a spark, "Shut up would you" She breathed between kisses, "I'm yours"

 **A/N thanks for reading. I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I literally only started rewriting it this morning because I didn't like what I had so far.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: I'm sorry for not replying to your last review, I said I was going to but completely forgot. The phone is going to be so vital for the plot, I just can't wait to get onto it and write it because it's within the next ten chapters that everything starts to go downhill and I'm just so excited! Love your reviews, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last!**

 **Haileynh: I literally just want to reveal my whole plot to you but I won't just to keep you guessing :P Her losing her phone will have a big impact later on though, but no, it won't be hydra.**

 **Zeppelin Skies: Civil War plotline is actually coming up soon. I think in ten chapters I should be almost there (which now thinking about it is still quite a while but I'm so excited to write it I think I might have to write the next few chapters quickly just to get onto it) Thanks for reviewing! I'm sorry I didn't reply last chapter and I hope you enjoy this chapter :D**

 **Hkhorch: Sorry for not replying last chapter, this review really lifted my day. I'm literally struggling to fit in food at the moment and am kind of regretting including it. Lol, but I guess it's unique to this fic so I'll stick with it (like, how am I meant to include food as the titles to the civil war plotline.. I didn't think that far ahead. Lol). Sorry this chapter is so short but I hope you like you so much for the review, I'll say it again it really lifted my spirits so thank you *bear hug***

 **Sergentjamesbarnes: I seem to know so many people with a cat name Mabel, I guess I used that for inspiration. Thanks for the review, they always cheer me up**


	22. Nutella Sandwich

**Chapter 22:**

 _A/N (was going to be called croissants before I realised that I already have a chapter called that because I'm an idiot, lol)_

Charley in took a deep fresh breath the following morning when she finally woke from her slumber. She turned on her side and gently pried open her eyes already feeling the suns steady glow on the back of her eyelids and knowing she hadn't closed the curtains again. Her first instinct was to shut them tight again but she fought with them seeing a fuzzy sleeping image of Bucky beside her,become a full form. He was still asleep, his head resting on the pillow facing towards her in a peaceful state and she was pleasantly surprised to find that he had morning hair. It was the first time she had observed him properly when sleeping and it was nice to see she wasn't the only one who suffered from tangled matted hair. It draped over his head and she could only _just_ see his closed eyes.

Bucky had slept with her last night and was lying next to her still, sound asleep as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do. She had convinced herself that she would remain a single old spinster for the rest of her boring life but after last night everything had changed.

She couldn't stop smiling. Everything had been perfect. The longer she laid there thinking the more she realized that this couldn't continue like this forever, it was too perfect for Charley to comprehend ever lasting forever. It was like she was watching someone else's life play out because it was too wonderful to be hers. She was half tempted to lean over him and resit everything that had happened last night just to stop her thoughts from dwindling too far and get drunk off of him, but she refrained from doing so, too intoxicated already from seeing his sleeping form peaceful for once.

Feeling no need to pull herself out of this perfect daydream she nuzzled up to him, swarming herself further down into the sheets and snuggling up to him.

Turning over made her face the open window and the weak warmth of the sun against her skin immediately brightened up her morning.

"Morning Doll," came the surprisingly clear voice one James Buchanan Barnes. She had been sure he had been asleep not two moments before. He swept his hair from his eye with one hand and with the other tucked his hand across her chest bringing her closer, "You being lazy again?"

She had to tilt her head slight that was resting on his bare chest in order to see him peaking an eye open down at her, cheekily smiling satisfactorily.

"I'm comfy," she shrugged taking no heed to his words and settled her head back down again. She had no intention of seizing this moment, "How long have you been awake?"

"Two hours," he said, "it's almost eleven"

"Who's lazy now, you've had a two hour lay in. I'm still waking myself up"

"Oh well if that's the case then I guess this breakfast I made for you, I should just eat it myself?" He scooped up a plate from the floor and rested it on his chest mere centimetres away from her nose where the delightful smell of the croissants suddenly consumed her.

"When did you get up? I didn't hear you," she frowned, thinking that she would have noticed the reason she was so comfy in this bed had got up and left.

"You were completely out of it, doll"

She visually scorned in distaste at his nickname but it turned to a murderous glare as soon as he raised his metal arm to eat the croissant.

"That's my croissant," charley pouted trying to reach out desperately to grab it but with his fast reflexes he managed to pull it away before she managed to enclose her finger tips around the delicious pastry.

"I think you'll find I got up and got it"

They carried on battling for the croissant for a short while before Bucky finally gave in, picking up a second plate of the floor for himself.

"Are you kidding me?"

However she hadn't taken two bites from it before she abandoned it for any even yummier breakfast. Bucky had leaned over and began to nibble at her neck which fired several delightful shivers cascading down her back. She tensed, melting down inside at how good it felt. She had to bite down on her lip to stop a moan escape, the croissant now completely forgotten.

"Buck-"

"Uhuh?"

"Y-you were saying s'fing um- about lazy?" she was finding it particularly difficult to concentrate on talking (or anything really) with Bucky doing what he was doing, and she wasn't sure if her sentence had made sense.

Apparently it had as he replied huskily, "Was I?"

This was it, this was how she was going to die. She thought as she arched back into him, wanting to feel his closeness to her. He was on the same thought of mind as he maneuvered carefully on top of her, gently and precisely leaning down and taking her lips for his own.

When he pulled away Charley moved closer trying to capture his lips again but he was already sitting up grinning from ear to ear. She was sure she had never seen him look this happy.

"Last night was amazing," She said, joining him at the edge of the bed, "Just thought I'd let you know because… wow"

"I didn't hurt you at all did I?" was his first response, and he moved away so he could look fully into her eyes and she was positive he was analysing her to see if she was lying.

"No, no. It was perfect," She answered honestly and he visibly relaxed.

She had thought it would hurt more than it did but Bucky had been so considerate of her and gentle, she was surprised he had held back so long after seventy years she would have thought he'd have some pent up feelings to express. He had been nothing short of a gentleman and she was kicking herself for not having done it sooner. She now understood why there was so much hype about sex. It was amazing.

"So, what do you want to do today?" It was another day off from work and now, more than ever, she was dreading the day when she had to go back and wanted to spend as much of it with Bucky as possible.

Bucky surprised her with a sudden peck on the lips but quickly pulled back with a hopeful smile. With unspoken words she knew exactly what he wanted to do today, because she had been thinking the same thing.

"I'm happy with doing that all day," she grinned and he managed to send her the most seductive smirk she had ever seen (not that she had seen many directed at her) which made her body shiver in delight, "I swear you're going to be the death of me" she mumbled into his ear as he began kissing up her neck again. She was going to have so many hickeys the next day but she couldn't find it within her to care.

God she loved him.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

They didn't get up for another two hours, both too immersed within each other, completely blinded by one other to even bother looking at the time. For them, time had seized existing. The only reason they stopped as soon as they was because Bucky had accidentally brushed a particular spot on her leg with his metal arm which send Charley into a raging, uncontrollable giggle as he touched a sensitive tickle spot on her knee.

Later, she found herself in the kitchen still smiling, making lunch for the two of them, wishing that she could replay all of last night and this morning. Their croissants had gone mysteriously missing when they finally decided to get up and Charley complained about the emptiness of her stomach, and she was sure it had something to do with her cat who was licking her lips a little too suspiciously.

"I got a pocket, got a pocket full of sunshine," Charley sang whilst wiggling her hips to the non-existent music surrounding her, "I got a love and I know that it's all mine. Oh, Oh Oh Oh…" She waited for a dramatic pause before throwing her head down and doing a weird wacky dance that consisted of her throwing her arms about and wiggling her bum at the same time, bellowing out, "TAKE ME AWAY, A SECRET PLACE, A SWEET ESCAPE!"

A boyish chuckle sounded behind her and she faltered on the last line, spinning around on one foot having just been caught in the act.

"I forgot the door was open," she blushed but carried on humming the tune out loud anyway, as she turned back to her sandwich and actually began spreading like a normal human being rather than dancing around whilst doing it.

"Interesting, I always pegged you down for someone who'd be able to dance?"

She dropped her knife with a clutter and span around, "My dancing was amazing"

"I don't know if you can even call it dancin'"

"I'm telling you, if I wanted, I could go professional," She span around again, realizing she was probably adding too much Nutella to this sandwich but applied more anyway but a hand glided up her arm, and snaked it's way around her waist pulling her closer and forcing her to drop the knife and lean back into him. No that she was complaining.

"I can teach you"

" _You_ know how to dance?"

"I think so," he said with uncertainty, "I remember flashes of dancing before the war"

He gently goaded her out of the room as she looked back at her nutella sandwich with a silent promise to herself she would be back. The kitchen was a little too small to dance so they stood next to the fire window where there was the most open space in her house (even then it was too small) and she smiled to herself as they must look like one of those cliché couples that you'd see in movies where, if you were walking down the street, would look up to see dancing behind a window.

She waited for him to suggest putting music on, she knew a few songs that Bucky would like that were from around the 40s era that she had looked up soon after Bucky had arrived for their car journey's (he was probably bored of all her Avril Lavigne) but when she didn't put any on she suggested putting her phone playlist on but he shook his head, "But we don't have any music"

"Sing," he said simply.

"Um… how about no"

"Why not?" he asked, wrapping a hand around her waist so they were in a 'dancing position'.

"Because I can't sing," She frowned, had this guy not heard her only moments before bellowing out the words to a pocket full of sunshine.

"You sing like an angel," he stopped smiling momentarily to give her a disapproving look, which surprisingly instantly made her want to prove he was right and actually sing, if only she _really_ did sound like angel, "come on, you sing all the time. You're wonderful"

Not wanting to disappoint she began to hum gently to a random tune that came in her head. She wasn't sure what it was meant to be but sounded like a mishmash of a variety of songs but he didn't complain as he began taking the first step and she watched carefully trying to mimic what he was doing but slower.

"This is hard," she said in between hums.

"Don't think too much about it," He told her, letting go of one of her arms and cupping the bottom of her chin so she was looking up at him, "Just focus on me"

"You know I can't concentrate when I'm focusing on you"

"That's the point"

They danced for a little longer. The more she did it the more she relaxed into it, and actually deciding on a song to sing she began to mumble it out quietly, just loud enough for them both to hear. In fairness the fire escape window was open and she knew if anyone was on the street they'd be able to hear her.

"Whoa!" she yelped out as she took her by surprise and picked her up, giving her a swirl in the air before settling her back down onto solid air having done a complete 360, "Whoa whoa… you're good at this"

"I think I'm mostly going off muscle memory," he concluded, taking a peak at their feet and was even shocked at how well he was doing it, "I actually have no idea what I'm doing"

"Seventy years later and you still got it"

He chuckled at that but said not more as their dance came to a natural end.

"Is it weird," Charley thought out of nowhere, "How weirdly normal this is?" This seemed to confused Bucky as his eyebrows furrowed together trying to work out what she meant, so she added, "I don't know, I was worried that it'd be awkward after- after last night, but it isn't, it's just normal isn't it..."

He still didn't know what she was trying to say, "Isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes! Yes! That's what I'm trying to say," She stammered out, "It's always been like this between us though, I guess. I mean… except for that time I stupidly almost kissed you in the park. That was embarrassing"

"You didn't talk to me for the rest of the day," Charley instantly blushed, regretting having brought up the memory again. She was sure she wouldn't ever live it down. Although she also wondered what would have happened if she hadn't of panicked and ran away. Would Bucky have kissed her back? And would they have started their relationship sooner?

"What were you thinking then?" She asked, curiosity took over her and she figured it had been long enough that she could ask him without going into a fit of embarrassment, "I'm just wondering"

He looked past her to think, "All I remember is leaning in to kiss you back but you'd already pulled away by then"

"Oh," she cringed. He had been planning on kissing her back? Jeez, now she felt like an even bigger idiot, "So, you didn't think I was being a complete idiot and jumping straight in for a kiss?"

"Not at all," Bucky shrugged as if it was obvious.

She grinned, satisfied with that answer and moved to plop herself on the couch, exhausted already from their half an hour of dancing.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The day came to a blissful end with Charley laying out a selection of movies from her small collection of films she owned and laid them out on the floor for Bucky to choose one but the more she looked at them the more she realized that some of these films (that she loved dearly) probably wouldn't be appropriate for an ex-assassin who went through memory loss. She instantly tossed the vow to the side (with questioning stares from Bucky), wondering why on earth she would have even _considered_ watching a film that loaded with memory loss with him.

"It's a crappy film," She explained before pushing her James Bond movies away. Not sure if watching a movie with spies and guns would be best. This then automatically made her put Kingsman to the side, no matter how much she wanted to watch it.

"Why not that one?"

"I don't like it," it was honest, the Bond movies had never been her favourite. Although Kingsman she loved but it was better to be on the safe side, she didn't want to spoil the end to this perfect day with Bucky having a relapse because Charley had wanted to watch a film.

She tossed three other films into another separate pile, now over analysing every movie she had selected in her hand. Would the Incredibles trigger something if it has superheroes in it? Just to be on the safe side she slid it to the side with an ounce of guilt, feeling as if she was somehow rejecting the movie and insulting it. It was a bloody good movie.

"Why not that one?" Bucky picked it up examining in the box, "it looks like it's for kids"

"Firstly the Incredibles is not just for kids. It's for all ages to enjoy and love!" She defended the movie and Bucky raised a hand in defence, "and-"

"Let me guess, you don't like it?"

"Yeah." She visibly cringed whilst saying it. She could never truthfully say that the Incredibles was a terrible movie.

"I'm not going to have a freak out, doll"

"What are you talking about?" She dropped the box she was holding and turned innocently to face him, "I'm simply trying to find a film you'll enjoy"

"Sure you are…" he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "put this one in, I want to see it"

"But-"

"Let me guess, it includes memory loss?"

"No… how did you?"

"I read the summary to this one-" he held the box of 'The Vow' that she hadn't realised was on his lap. His eyes glossed over the summary on the back of the box again with a frown,"sounds sad"

"Which is exactly why we won't be watching it"

"I can handle it, you know"

"I didn't want to risk it," she admitted, mindlessly putting the DVD's back into a pile deciding that the Incredibles would probably be fine, "I know you can't control it but I hate seeing you have a relapse and not being able to do anything for you, I didn't want today to end like that"

Bucky didn't respond for a long while and for a moment she wasn't sure if she'd even said it aloud. She was sort of glad, she wasn't sure if she wanted him to reply, but just as she was slotting the Incredibles into the DVD player he murmured two words.

"I'm sorry."

"Wha- oh no, I didn't mean- I just meant I want to be able to help you," She got up on the couch next to him, realizing it had sounded like he was a burden on her when that wasn't that at all.

"I had one last night," he looked down at his hand, suspiciously there was a pillow over his metal one shielding it from view. The movie began to play in front of them but neither were paying attention, "it was about six and I woke up not being able to breathe, my mind was slowly slipping, i'd just had a nightmare and I could feel it taking over me"

"Buck, if I'd known..." she had been _asleep_ next to him whilst this was all happening. How could she have not woken up.

"No, No, that's what I'm trying to say. You did help…"

"What? How?" She was sure she had been asleep, unless she had unconsciously woken up without realizing and squirted her water pistol at him like she used to.

"I was having a nightmare about one of my targets and for a moment I'd mistaken you as one but at that moment you turned over and I saw your face and I was instantly pulled from it. I'd never overcome a relapse that quickly, it was weird," he toyed with his hand that were inches away from Charley's as she debated grabbing hold and reaching for it but waited and he added, "What I'm trying to say is, I'm getting better. I know I am"

"I know you are too," she smiled encouragingly, finally taking hold of his hand and smiling slightly. The Incredibles sound track begin to play which turned her attention towards it, "oh shit. We missed the whole introduction"

She rewinded it and settled back onto the floor at Bucky's leg where mabel was purring, curled up in a ball at Bucky's feet (her natural position). Whenever charley saw it she would be tempted to whisper the words 'traitor', her beloved cat having found a new favourite.

They sat in a relaxed silence. Every now and then she would rest her head on his knee and give a wide yawn or smile to herself (for which she was glad Bucky couldn't see her face because she must look crazy, smiling to herself every now and then) at how wonderful everything was. She didn't want to jinx it but she was beginning to feel her life slowly moulding together. Whilst she was still away from her family, having barely any friends in America and in a suckish job it was still better than she imagined. She had Bucky, and now with him working she was able to pay the rent and food without worrying about how she was going to find money for the next pay check. She was also grateful for being back in contact with her parents, realising just how much she missed them… and did she mention she had this gorgeous super soldier living in her apartment with her.

She was pulled out of her thought by the sudden sensation of relaxation coming from the roots of her head. Bucky was threading his fingers through her hair. It was nice and she leaned back into it, trying to supress a moan escaping her lips.

"Can I plait your hair for you?"

It was an odd request but she moved up between his legs nevertheless. It had been awhile since she'd been adventurous with her hair and letting a 90 year old super soldier who hadn't styled his own hair in the past seventy years, do her hair for her was definitely adventures.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"No," he admitted with a chuckle as she felt him pick up three strands of her, "I'm trying to copy what I've seen you do. I also think I used to do this for Beci"

"Let's hope you're a fast learner," She winced wondering how this would turn out feeling odd bits of her being picked up that shouldn't be but didn't comment, "My hairs already a mess as it is"

He began to separate her hair into three, it felt nice and she easily sat back into a relaxed state whilst watching one of her favourite movies but the illusion was destoryed when Bucky gave a groan, "agh, how do you… um, I don't know how to-" she could feel him moving a piece of hair very quickly between his fingers. Foolishly, she tried to turn and look at him but her hair was caught between his hand as she turned and a flash of pain shot through her head.

"Aghh!"

"Stay still"

"You said you didn't know what to do," Charley groaned, raising a hand to her head where the shooting pain had come from and felt the supposed plait Bucky was creating, "Where's the plait?" all she could feel was knotted hair on the top of her head and she gave an even louder groan when Bucky gave a nervous chuckle, "BUCKY, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY HEAD!"

"it's harder than it looks"

She took a chance up at the TV where violent and dash were hiding in a cave. The screen was relatively dark and she could make out Bucky's face in the reflection. His tongue pocked out slightly between his teeth and Charley would have laughed at the deep look of concentration planted on his face had she not been mortified by the reflection of her hair that was matted and looked as if she had been dragged through a bush backwards.

"How can you fuck up so badly?"

"It's hard to do it with my hand," he said quietly still going and trying to resolve the mess he'd created, and Charley didn't have the heart to tell him to just stop, "I thought it'd be the same as dancing and muscle memory would just take over"

She decided she wasn't going to bother seeing how badly he was doing looking in the TV reflection but wait until he was done to see the disastrous job he'd done.

"Almost done," he said flicking over a particularly large bit.

"I better not be bald, Buck"

"Don't worry, doll, it looks great," but there was something uncertain in his voice that even years of being a trained assassin couldn't mask.

"I hate it when you call me that," she scrunched her nose up distastefully.

"You love it," he teased. She peaked a look in the reflection and saw him letting go of her hair and scotching back on the couch to take a look as if he was admiring his work, "I think I'm done"

She fearfully went onto her knees to look at her reflection, expecting to be mortified but instead she started laughing. It was still terrible and she was still mortified, but it was so bad that she couldn't help but grin at his pathetic attempt (she'd worry about combing it later).

"I mean it could have gone worse," she winced.. It was a birds nest, somewhere beneath all the matts and knots he had created there was a small, twisted plait that had turned into a weave of hair, "In truth, I'm glad to have finally found something you're terrible at. I mean you're not Thor, you can't be perfect at everything"

Bucky frowned, not understanding who Thor was but instantly jealous of the god of thunder which she smirked at him, amused.

"Who's Thor?"

"He's part of the avengers and like a god. He's hot," she challenged him, goading a reaction out of him and as far as she could tell she was successful. He bit his lip and stared down at her hair with new found determination.

He took a deep breath in, "You're staying here until I get this perfect. I'm not being beaten by a god"

 **A/N**

 **PrincessGBRS: Thank you so much! Seriously, it's lovely to hear that you find Charley real and relatable. I'm never really sure as I'm writing so thanks for the vote of confidence!**

 **Alice Williams: Thank you so much! Glad you think they're cute**

 **KnightOwl247: haha, love it**

 **hkhorch: aww thank you so much! Literally such a sweet review, I'm so happy I put a smile on your face with the fic. I hope this chappy is just as good as the last :D I've got a few chapter names sorted for civil war (I really can't wait to start writing the plot. I just hope I do the movie justice). I love the idea arguing over food because I feel it's a very Charley discussion to have. Thank you so much! The 'I love you' is coming soon, hang on tight :D**

 **Bitch Ate My Cupcake: thanks so much for the amazing review. I always look forward to your ones, so glad I've managed to keep you hooked for this long, I hope this chappy is just as good! :D**

 **LaraBarnes: haha, yes they did. I wasn't sure how much detail to go into it, because I've never written smut before. I hope I included just the right amount, hope you enjoyed this chapter too :D**

 **Haileynh: thank you so much! Thank you for reading, you're half the reason I continue writing! :D**


	23. Christmas Turkey

**Chapter 23:**

The lullaby of Christmas music played joyfully in the background and had she been in any other situation she would have been content to dance and loose herself within the upbeat tune of Michael buble _jingle bells_. But as she folded jeans at work, she couldn't think of a place she'd rather _not_ be.

"Charlotte, there's still twelve more boxes round the back we need out before you leave," Aiden commanded her, marching up and straight past her without even a single glace in her direction as if he was far too busy to spare her a glance.

" _twelve_ , but I've only got ten minutes before the end of my shift," she seethed in response, spinning around to complain but he was already gone.

She sucked in a breath. It was bad enough they'd called her in on Christmas Eve, now she was going to be late home and she wouldn't have time to set anything up for Christmas tomorrow. The tree was still only half decorated, she had to re-wrap half of her parents because her nuisance of a cat decided to walk across them the other day, leaving obvious scratch marks trailing across presents. It didn't help that she was gaining a cold one day before Christmas (trust her) and she was constantly dropping whatever she was holding to catch a sneeze only to receive dirty looks from customers who'd rush off avoiding her, refusing to buy anything that was within a ten metre radius of her. Not that she minded, it was nice not having anyone around her whilst the rest of the store was in complete chaos. Why on earth do people wait until the last day to get their Christmas shopping done? She was about ready to unpin her name badge, throw it on the ground and walk out in protest. If only she didn't need the money.

Luckily they'd at least have a meal tomorrow (albeit probably a bit burnt). Her magnificent boyfriend had graciously offered to cook the turkey and although there was a small inclining at the back of her mind that she'd come home to a burnt down apartment, she was sure it'd be fine. He had never really cooked anything without her being there.

"Charlotte, the boxes!" Aiden was back, "I asked you to get on with it"

It took her ten minutes to actually locate the boxes and by then the store was closed and employees were ushering goodbyes and merry Christmas's, heading home to their families. It wasn't long before Aiden left, passing her the keys to lock up and the store was completely still as if the chaos of last minute Christmas buyers hadn't just happened seconds before. She preferred it this way anyway.

She still had eight more boxes to unpack and her arms were beginning to grow weak. If only Bucky was here, he'd get these boxes done with minute, because at least half of her time was spent trying to pick them up.

After heaving out about twenty pairs of jeans all in one onto a rail, she had to take a breath and take a seat on the floor. There was no one else around and her chest was thumping so hard that she thought if she didn't take a break now she might collapse. It didn't help she couldn't breathe out of her nose at the minute with the ever pressing cold that had been bugging her all week long.

She looked around the store.

It was so quiet and still. It reminded her a little of the night she met Bucky, just a lot more colder as the heating had been turned off after the last customer left and with a lot more Christmas décor. He had been standing mere feet away from where she sat now when she first saw him. It was so dark she could only just make out the metal of his arm.

She really just wanted to go home to him.

"Oh fuck it," she cursed allowed, kicking the box under a rack so it was out of sight and quickly dashing up to close the storage room where the other remaining boxes still left unpacked, "I give up. It's not even worth it."

She made a dash for her coat and bag before making a grand escape for her car.

The roads were completely bare. The only people that were out at this time of night were the young adults getting pissed at the local bar in fancy dress suits of elves and Santa Claus's, as they made their way wobbling down the streets, giggling. Other than that and the booming sound of Christmas songs playing, it was empty.

It was finding a parking space that was the problem. With everyone home from work and inside with their families, actually enjoying Christmas eve, there was little car parking spaces. She managed to find one three streets down and was forced to walk the rest of the way freezing cold, her coat was too thin to protect her from the winter weather.

Shivering, she finally reached her apartment and with as little sound as she could, she quietly shut the front door behind her, pulling off her shoes as quickly as possible to release her feet from the death traps and give a small stretch. Her body only just becoming aware of the physical stress and toll work did to her.

Only shadows loomed across the apartment, the lights off and curtains drawn shut. She could just about make out the sparkle of the Christmas tree and the colourful banners hanging around the wall. With a smile, she realized Bucky had done it all on his own. Usually the decorations would be up much earlier than this but she'd taken so much overtime at work to pay for Christmas and not to mention the rent (that she noticed had gone up), that she'd actually not had time to put the decorations up.

Her eyes cast down to the presents laid out perfectly under the tree. She faltered seeing Bucky's pile that consisted of about ten presents compared to her large pile that had been sent over from England from her friends and family.

Something soft suddenly brushed across her leg, she gave a small jump but looked down cautiously, to see her cat had come to greet her, rubbing herself against her leg and looking up at her with round, wide eyes. Charley bent down and stroked a hand across her head, feeling the suddenness of sleep befall her. She was just glad that she was finally home, she now had at least three more days until she would have to go to work again and that thought was the biggest comfort she could imagine.

Lazily she stumbled towards the bedroom, crashing onto the mattress, her feet giving in to the weight of gravity. She was about to shut her eyes but was distracted by a hand gently brushing against her hips, giving a small tug to pull her closer.

"You're still awake?"

"Yeah," Bucky's quite hoarse voice came, "couldn't sleep. You were late from work"

"Sorry," She really was sorry; she had told him she'd be back by seven to help with the decorations. They were supposed to have done it together, "I was kept late"

"I'm going to have to have words with this Aiden guy…" he said quietly. She smiled lightly at his words and turned to face him, He had his eyes shut and looked as if he was sound asleep.

"Merry Christmas," She whispered back, pulling her head closer towards him so it was resting on his chest where she could feel his steady heartbeat.

"Merry Christmas, Doll-face."

For once she didn't complain about the nickname but fell asleep, content with the fact that the most amazing guy was lying next to her.

She was awake for a grand total of forty three minutes on Christmas day before being instructed by Bucky to go back to bed with the assurance he would finish the Christmas dinner all on his own. Her cold had doubled in intensity last night and she was barely able to take a single breath without sneezing, coughing and spluttering everywhere.

"I'm sorry," She groaned, resting her head back against the headrest as Bucky came in with a glass of water and drugs that she'd instructed him to get from the kitchen draws, "I could have picked any day of the year to be sick and I choose this day"

"It's not your fault, doll, just get some rest," he leant up and gave her a kiss on the forehead,

"I'd stay back if I were you, I don't want to give you my cold"

"Super soldier serum," he explained, "I can't get ill"

"Lucky sod," She complained under her breath, downing the pills in one, hoping they'd take effect soon as she could feel her throat closing up again, a warning for another coughing spree.

"We'll open the presents later, or tomorrow if you want"

He got up to leave but Charley reached for his hand and grasped it before he could exit the room, preventing him from going anywhere, "no, no, I want to open them now. We can open them in here"

"You should really rest"

"It's Christmas, I can't"

He gave her a disappointed frown but got up nevertheless to grab a few presents, making Charley's face light up with a smile. She really wanted to know what he had gotten her, as well as wanting to see his face when he opens his presents. She really wanted him to love them. It must have been seventy years since he received a decent Christmas present, a whole lifetime. She doubted hydra were very giving around this time of year.

She sat up, crossing her legs, pulling the blanket up around her hips as Bucky came back in, half a dozen presents piled into his arms as he loaded them onto the bed at her feet. Just to be annoying she moved her leg so a few of the presents went tumbling to the floor. Bucky glared at her, inhaling a deep breath before ducking down to pick them up, giving Charley a full and nice view of his ass.

"Thanks," She smirked as he stood up again placing the presents back on the bed, "I appreciate it"

They started opening presents one by one. Charley started with her parents. They had brought her some home equipment that they had probably realized she was missing the last time they visited. Like a microwave. She appreciated them but pushed them to the side quickly, wanting to get onto the fun presents, realizing how much of an adult she was becoming with all these boring gifts. They did get her a new phone, however, after hearing about getting mugged with a nice phone case to go along with it. Her brother and sisters presents were a lot more entertaining. They had brought her an Iron man onesie which she had quickly put on (much to the judgement of Bucky who afterwards stared at her like she'd gone crazy).

Bucky opened a few of his presents next.

"What's this?" he asked as he opened a present from her parents after Charley had begged them over text to get him something, worried that the only presents he would get would be from her.

"It's a make your own model plane kit. It was my idea, I thought you'd like it," She replied wearily waiting for his reaction. He took another look at the box and his face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean since we visited the Smithsonian…" She trailed off as she was distracted by Bucky excitedly ripping open the packaging and got out bags of small plastic pieces that would connect together to make the plane model, "it might be a nice hobby for you"

"Holy crap this is awesome," he grinned opening up the instructions and ducked his head so low into them she was worried he was going to be engulfed into it. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes as he played with his new toy, mumbling word such as 'this is amazing' under his breath. Charley was just happy to watch him get so excited, "Thank-you" he finally said, placing the instructions down and practically launching himself at her to kiss her.

"It's not me you have to thank," she said after they broke apart, "my parents brought you it"

"But you probably gave them the idea"

"Yeah… Yeah I suppose I did," She grinned modestly, "Now open my one"

"This one?" He said, holding up a small present wrapped in green elf Christmas paper that she thought was supposed to be meant for kids, but she'd run out of anything else. He tore it open revealing a small journal, "What's this for?"

She leant up and took the journal from him, flicking through it revealing the empty pages, "this is for you to write, draw, or put in anything that reminds you of a good memory that you remember. It must be hard to try and work through all the memories that hydra installed in you and the true ones of before everything went shit, so I thought buying you this journal would mean you would have a place to write everything down that's worth remembering. I looked up about how to heal memory loss and this was one of the more suggested options. It might work for you, I don't know. You don'thave to use it though if you don't want to"

"I don't think I even got this many good presents before hydra," he laughed as he picked up the two presents he had already unwrapped as if they were the most precious things to him in the world "we usually only ever got one present each if our parents could afford it"

"Well, the economy's a lot better now. I've got you something else," She held up an even smaller present, "Again, if you don't want it. You don't have to take it" Although she selfishly really hoped he did, they cost her a fortune and were non-refundable.

Now a little nervously he unwrapped the presents, this time a lot more slowly, making sure each corner was snapped away from the cello tape before carefully taking out the present underneath, revealing a small jewellery box. Charley's stomach was on edge, she really had no idea if he would like these or not. They had been a spur of the moment buy and now as he opened it uneasily she was beginning to regret that decision.

Finally after what felt like a lifetime he opened up the lid to reveal two silver army dog tags, which had engraved his full name and the stamp of the 107th Regiment. The butterflies in Charley's stomach exploded. She watched his face carefully for any sign of a reaction but it was no use as it remained neutral. Which didn't help her out much as his natural expression was quite dark.

"What do you think?" She managed to croak out, her mouth having gone dry again and the aspirin suddenly losing its kick.

"Where did you get these?," he looked up, his eyes glistening, "I thought I lost them"

"They're personalised ones, I brought them online. I tried to see if anyone had the originals but I think they're truly lost," she frowned seeing him look down at the tags again with a sad expression, "I'm sorry"

"No, no. Thank you. I just wasn't- I wasn't expecting this."

"Do you like them?"

"Love them," his lips quivered into a small smile, "They look just like the original"

"You remember them?"

"Yeah, I had them on when I fell from the train but they were gone when I woke up in the hydra base," drastically, his tone changed into that of a cold and dark voice, "they must have taken them."

"Well…" She reached out and picked them from his hands and with a lot of effort from her stomach muscles, leant up and placed them over his head, letting them fall nicely across his chest, "they can't take it away from you forever. It's just as if you've got them back…" she trailed off her chest suddenly closing up again as if an avalanche had erupted within her and she began spluttering. Quickly, she ducked under her covers to hide away, realizing how unattractive she must look right now.

"Are you alright under there, doll?"

"Yeah," She inhaled deeply, "just the drugs have worn off, that's all"

"I'll go get you some more," he got up but Charley had to stop him, pulling herself up from the covers to reveal her pale sickly face.

"Can't, I have to wait another hour or so to take another one"

"I'll get you a honey and lemon drink then. We used to do that back in the day. You got some in the cupboard?" He asked, genuinely concerned as Charley coughed out a bit more.

"I will literally be forever in your debt, and yeah we do."

As soon as he excited the room Charley's stomach gave a timely rumble. She had completely skipped breakfast, feeling too ill to digest it. She tried to call out to Bucky but found her croaky voice wasn't loud enough, despite how small her apartment was, her voice just wouldn't carry.

Instead she reached for her new phone, desperate to try it out and typed in Bucky's number. From the other room she heard the default phone ringing song as Bucky answered it with a suspicious tone.

"Who's this?" He fired at her quickly through the phone.

"It's Charley"

"Oh," He gave a sigh of relief, "I forgot you had a new phone. Why are you calling? You're a room away from me?" she could hear him responding physically from where she sat, the phone call was a tad slower.

"I can't talk very loudly and I want some biscuits because I'm hungry"

"Course you are," Bucky chuckled through the phone and she heard the sound of the cookie jar being moved.

"Make sure it's the Christmas ones with the snowmen on top, or the reindeers I don't mind"

"Even ill you still demand me about"

"It's what I'm here for," she teased back.

"Alright, I'll be in there in a sec'"

"Thank-you, love you," she said as cheerily as she could muster with a blocked nose and a splitting headache. She really did have the best boyfriend ever. Just as she was about to hang up she noticed Bucky's sudden silence from the other side and she could no longer hear the rustling from the kitchen.

A little concerned she tried to peak her head out of the door but could see no more than Bucky's metal arm standing in the kitchen doorframe, the phone still clutched by is ear, frozen.

"Buck, are you alright?" She asked through the phone.

"Um… yeah, yeah I'm good. I'll be there in a second"

Suddenly worried he had seen something that he couldn't talk about allowed, Charley prepared herself. Ideas swimming through her head. What could have knocked the winter soldier from his usual focused self? Perhaps he had seen a hydra agent outside of the window. Maybe he had seen something _in_ the apartment. She had no idea.

She hung up the call and pulled herself out of bed. But as her feet hit the floor, realization hit her as she figured out why Bucky had suddenly acted so weird on the phone. Cringing deeply, she sat back down at the edge, rubbing her head with frustration. This was so typical of her.

She hadn't meant to say it. It had just slipped out. It was the typical thing to say to people at the end of a phone conversation, before you hang up. She hadn't meant it- _Well_ , she did mean it but it wasn't meant to be said like that. She was going to wait until they were fully into a relationship, not in a measly way like this. And she was never going to be the first one to say it, it was too much of a big word and she hadn't wanted to pressure him to say it back…

He hadn't said it back.

She rested herself back down onto the bed, letting what she had gone sink in and jumped when Bucky walked back into the room. He wasn't holding any mug or biscuits but she wasn't sure his arms could even hold them at the minute as he walked in with them pinned at his side as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with them.

"What did you just say…"

"Bucky, I didn't mean that, it just kind of slipped out. I'm sorry, forget it," she hurriedly went to explain, tripping over her words, realizing, once again she had just said she didn't mean it, "Not like that… I meant it, but not now. I don't know. I shouldn't have said anything. I love you, yes, but I wasn't meant to say it then. That's what I mean but I didn't mean. I didn't mean to say it _then_. But yes, I do love you," her chest felt like it was going to explode from the sudden talking she was doing with no breaths in between and she was pretty sure that taking another dose of aspirin before she was allowed too wouldn't do her any harm right now, "That doesn't mean to say you have to say it back, but you should know that I _do_ love you"

There was a moment of unbearable silence. Charley avoided all eye contact and began looking around for one of her presents that she'd already opened to distract herself with but she'd put all her opened presents on the floor at the end of her bed where Bucky was standing.

"You know this can't last forever, right?"

"Oh," that wasn't what she had been expecting "What do you – course it can," She said with confidence. Now that she knew him she couldn't ever imagine going back to a life without him. But, what was their future? She couldn't imagine the winter solider walking down the aisle, having kids, a family, in a full time job. The more she thought about it, the pictures of wanted posters kept coming to mind. Posters with his face on them and she was the only person in the world who knew where he was or what he was like. It was at times like these that she remembered harbouring him would put her in jail too. What kind of future was that?

She ducked her head low and Bucky seemed to take that as she knew he was right.

The bed dipped as he took a seat next to her.

"I love you too," his lips quivered up into a small smile but it was quickly washed away, "But I have enemies and if they ever found out where I am and they hurt you, I don't know-"

"I know you'll protect me"

"I might now always be there-"

"-Then I can protect myself," she fired up, "That's what you're training me for, so I can fight back if it ever were to happen"

"And what if Hydra finds out I'm hiding here and send fifty of their best agents to come get me and they find you here. You can't take them all down"

"I can bloody well try!" She shot back but instantly regretted raising her voice when her throat suddenly felt as if a frog had fallen down it. She gave a heavy cough to try and clear it but it did no good and Bucky only looked at her sympathetically, although she wasn't sure if it was because of her misplaced confidence in her ability to defeat hydra agents or with how ill she was.

"All I'm saying is if Hydra were to ever take you or hurt you in order to get to me then I would happily walk straight back to Hydra, surrendering and never look back"

"You wouldn't dare," She swatted his arm for even thinking such a thing, "Don't you dare. They'd brainwash you, make you forget everything, and turn you into a mindless killing machine again"

"If it meant you were safe, it would be worth it," her heart plummeted to the ground. This was not at all how she expected her Christmas to go, it sounded as if Bucky was trying to say goodbye to her.

"Are you planning on leaving soon, then? Is that what your trying to tell me?" she felt she had to get these fears into the open, not knowing whether he was going to say or going to leave would kill her. He had already left unexpectedly before.

"No," he replied quickly, dispelling her fears instantly, "No, 'course not. I'm just warning you that this can't go on forever, _because_ I love you. I'm just too dangerous"

"Nothing's happened to me yet."

"Doesn't mean it won't"

She didn't want to admit he was right but she knew he was. What they had was too good to be true. Too domestic to be real. It was all a really nice illusion and all of a sudden her cold didn't seem like it was really a big deal. She wanted to get up, to make the most of her time with this man, knowing it was limited.

Unexpectedly Bucky moved to sit bedside her before wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer so that her head was resting on his shoulder, the two leant against the head board.

"You better not be planning on leaving anytime soon," she warned, still not entirely convinced.

"hey," Bucky look mock offended, raising a dramatic hand to his chest and placing it over his heart, "I don't think I could ever _plan_ to leave you"

"Good," she settled.

She felt a wet kiss on the top of her forehead along with a contented sigh.

"It's snowing," Bucky said and Charley raised her head to look out of the window where the curtains were still drawn open.

"So it is," she replied staring at the thin flakes of snow cascading down, some landing on her window sill having created a small layer, just enough to put the tips of your fingers in, "It's pretty"

"Yup"

"You know what this means, right?" She cocked her head to the side playfully and Bucky looked at her curiously, "If it gets any thicker we've got to have a snowball fight"

"I thought you said you were ill,"

"I'm never too ill for a snowball fight," She shrugged, forcing herself up onto her feet even though the warmth of the bed was so much more tempting, her throat still aching and her head still spinning but if this was probably going to be her first and only Christmas with Bucky she wasn't going to spend it hidden away in a bed.

"Before we go out there I want to give you my present"

"Oooh, gimmie," Charley squealed with delight, holding out her hand as Bucky reached down handing her a square shaped box that was suspiciously heavy. It was poorly wrapped together with colourful cartoon reindeer Christmas paper that she just couldn't picture Bucky buying. Parts of the white side of the paper were showing and it was puffy on the edges but even though usually her perfectionist side would be irked by the terrible job but she only found it endearing.

She tore away at the paper to find a wooden case. It was mysterious and she was still slightly alarmed by how heavy it felt because she was sure it wasn't the wooden box making it heavier, but something inside.

Carefully she unclipped the case, seeing Bucky become tenser as she lifted the lid up.

Inside was a gun.

It was larger than she expected one to be, bigger than what they looked like in the movies anyway. The metal was shiny silver and she could see her shocked face reflect back at her. Not wanting to disappoint him she controlled her face to change into one of delight.

"Wow," She gasped, "that's an actual gun"

"It's only a semi-automatic but it'd do the job," he picked up the gun and Charley visibly flinched, but his attention was focused so heavily on showing her, her new accessory, that he didn't notice the fear in her eyes.

"Do what job?" She faltered, " _Kill_ someone?"

"I didn't mean that," Bucky tried to recover, finally noticing Charley's horror-struck face. Slowly, he lowered the gun back into the box and Charley sighed in relief, "I'd just feel a lot safer knowing you could protect yourself against hydra agents other than hand to hand combat"

"I get that Bucky," Charley reasoned, "but I'm from England where guns are outlawed. I've never even really seen a gun up this close before, let alone owned one"

"Charley, Hydra are going to be coming at you with guns whether you like it or not. It's not for violence, it's just for protection"

"But they're not coming after me!" Charley bit back, her frustration building as he picked up the gun again to show her it in more detail. She knew there were no bullets in it, as she could see a box within the wooden case filled full of them but the thought of a gun being in her house made her nervous, as though she was admitting that she would be mauled down by hydra agents and be forced to use it.

"They might do!"

"It's unlikely," She retaliated fiercely, "I appreciate the gift, but I don't need it"

"You might do"

"I _might_ get hit by a trunk tomorrow, it doesn't mean I'm going to sit in doors to stop it from happening," she started raising her voice again but stopped shortly for fear she'd damage it even further, "all I'm saying is I don't feel safe _with_ that in the apartment"

"It's just a gun"

" _Just a gun_ … Exactly!" she squeaked, feeling her throat rip apart as she did so, "This…" she jabbed a finger at the fun, "is dangerous, it can kill people with a single flick of my hand. If an evil hydra agent came at me I don't think I'd even have the strength to pull the trigger-"

"Don't aim to kill then," was Bucky's response which only further enraged Charley whose eyes widened drastically.

" _Don't aim to kill them_!" She echoed his words harshly, "First off I don't know how to even shoot one of these things, knowing me I'd end up aiming for the foot and get the head. Second of all that's still firing a _bullet_ at someone. I wouldn't be able to do it"

Processing all of her words, Bucky took a while to respond, "Okay then. I'll fire it for you. Either way, I feel much better knowing that you'll be that much more protected _with_ a gun on you"

Charley's lips twitched into a frown, realizing the problem here. Her apartment had no weapons in it, apart from the kitchen knives but they were so far into the kitchen that if someone were to ever break in, she was pretty sure they wouldn't have enough time to run and get them and even though most houses today had a hang-gun in their draw, it wasn't part of Charley's beliefs. She wouldn't be able to sleep knowing there was a deadly weapon next to her, but that didn't mean Bucky felt the same.

She leant forward and captured Bucky's hand with her own. They were cold against her warm, sweaty palms. He still had the gun in his hand and she made him lower it back into the case, feeling nervous just to even touch it herself.

Once it was securely locked back up she looked up to face Bucky, "Be honest here, this gun wasn't for me to be safe. It was to help yourself feel more secure in the apartment. Which is completely fine, I get it"

"Believe it or not, you being safe and me feeling secure are one of the same thing"

 **A/N So so sorry for the long wait on the chapter. I've been busy with school and such. I hope this chapter was worth the wait :D**

 **Danig01: haha thanks, glad to see you find them cute :D**

 **Dreae: Thank you so much, sorry for taking so long to update. I'm a terrible person, I really hope you enjoy this chapter though :D**

 **Afreakbynature: Sorry for taking so long to update, I'm glad you love this story. You're half the reason I write x I imagine Bucky won't be happy until he can pick up the hammer same as thor, just so he can parade that 'he's just as worthy as he is'**

 **.2016: thank you so much! And yes I will be doing civil war, everything is leading up to it and it basically begins next chapter as Sam will make an appearance. It's all gonna become tense from now on. Thank you so much for your review!**

 **Aria: sorry for taking so long but thank you for the lovely review!**

 **Duley: I'm so so sorry for taking over a month to update, glad to see you like your story and hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Inperfection: no need to worry, I've been MIA for the past month. Lol. Always look forward to you reviews though. The stolen phone plot doesn't appear for another few chapters but it's important. Glad to see your still reading, love you lots x**

 **Chester-Grey: Thank you so so so much for your review. It made my day reading it and I'm sorry for only just getting back to you now. Glad you enjoyed the fluff, unfortunately it goes a little downhill from here on out and Steve will appear soon which I'm super excited about!**

 **Guest: This review made me proper laugh, I don't know whether you meant that seriously or not but I proper loved it.**

 **Bitch At my Cupcake: DON'T HATE ME FOR NOT UPDATING, I'M SORRY. As always you review left me smiling, I'm just sorry I'm a terrible human being and took a whole month to update and thank you so much. I;m sure I'm not the best, I mean I literally took a whole month to update which is pretty shit lol. Again thank you for the review (I love you so much man)**

 **Artemis7448: he really is**


	24. Kebabs

**Chapter 24**

"Is this true?"

"Is what true?"

"That Steve Rogers was born on the 4th of July?" her eyes roamed furiously back and forth from the full page picture of Captain America from the early 1940's to the words written underneart the black and white grainy image showing him marching troops across a field. Most of the men were bleeding, clutching onto one another for support as they were barely able to walk. She paused on the picture, looking closer thinking that the man on Steve's right looked awfully similar to Bucky, "is that you?" She shoved the book upwards for Bucky to have a look, accidently hitting him in the chin as he looked down at the same time, "oops, sorry"

He smiled before glancing at it quickly, shaking his head, "No, I hold my gun with my right, that guy's holding it with his left"

"Ooo, nice spotting," she drew the book down to have a closer inspection realizing just now that the guy also was wearing regular clothing rather than military uniform.

"And yeah, his birthday is 4th of July," Her hand jumped up to her mouth to conceal the snort that was about to escape, "What?"

"You're telling me Captain America's birthday is the 4th of July?" She repeated, "As in, independence day!" he gave a short nod, "That's just ironic"

"If you say so"

They had taken to sitting on a bench in the park by their work between their work shifts as it was the sunniest day they'd had in over three months. She could even feel a tan beginning to settle, as if they had never left summer. Charley had even taken off her coat, for the first time outside since winter began. It was now lying on Bucky's lap under where her head was resting reading the fact file she'd brought for some light reading. Unfortunately for Bucky, taking his coat and gloves off was not an option.

"Did he ever have a beard?" She questioned further, half curious and half wanting to test his memory. He had come such a long way in only half a year.

She was surprised when Bucky gave a heart chuckle, he'd been in a bad mood all day since Mabel had walked across his newly built plane model this morning and now he'd lost half of the pieces after they'd scattered across the floor.

"Steve could never grow a beard," he laughed, "He still had the face of a nine year old"

"You seem to _really_ admire him," Charley commented sarcastically now reading a new fact that he'd _apparently_ dated Judy Gardland. She had to shake her head at that one. She didn't even need to ask Bucky if that was true or false, from what she's heard Steve couldn't even talk to a girl without tripping over his feet, let alone dating an incredibly famous actress. Was the amazing Peggy Carter not good enough for the history books? "Did you ever have a beard?" she asked, noticing how he still had scruff growing around his face. Not that she minded but she did wonder what he would look like without it all.

"No, I always trimmed it,"

"Why don't you now?"

"Do you not like the beard?"

"I don't mind either way"

"Beards weren't very popular back then," he said, "the girls preferred it when a man was shaven"

"Oh right," Charley rolled her eyes, suddenly visioning the 1940's version of Bucky, wearing his military uniform and the girls chasing him. How they would laugh seeing him now sat with her, " _The girls_ "

"No need to be jealous," he gave her a sideways glance, "most of them are dead or wrinkly now"

"Were you in love with any of them?"

"No, I never spent enough time with a single girl to get to know them well enough"

"Love em' and leave em'," She chuckled but sobered up quickly unaware of her mind venturing down into the depth of her fears from their last conversation about him leaving., "Sometimes I wonder if that's what you're gonna do to me" she added light-heartedly, giving a small chuckle to show him she only meant it as a even though she meant it lightly there was still the pull in the back of her mind, nagging her to say something. They hadn't brought up their conversation from Christmas since it had happened, both trying to ignore the inevitable, but it was bothering Charley and she couldn't let it go. Every time he went out of her sight she was worried he'd just disappear

She waited for him to reply when he suddenly stood up, "I'm just gonna do a few laps," he told her, avoiding her eye contact as he began to sprint away, much faster than his usual pace.

"Why couldn't you just shut your damn gob," she cursed allowed, flipping back down onto the bench but found it was much too uncomfortable without Bucky's lap and a pillow, so she forced herself to sit up straight, angrily tearing through the Captain America fact file that was becoming increasingly worn by the second.

 _The Captain America shield is the only source of Vibranium left on earth-_

-Maybe she should go look for him. He was clearly pissed off…

 _Steve Rogers was a good friend to Tony Stark's father; Howard Stark-_

-She looked up from the book, doubting it took him that long to run a full lap. The park wasn't that big and Bucky certainly wasn't that slow.

 _Steve Rogers featured in four silent movies in total, all can still be viewed today at the Smithsonian –_

She couldn't concentrate as her eyes flickered up from the book to the park above her seeing if she can spot Bucky there. He wouldn't be hard to miss. He would look ridiculous wearing a full on coat whilst jogging on a warm day such as this. She thought she spotted him sitting on a bench opposite her at the other end of the park. His elbows resting on his knees with his hood pulled up, supported with the classic baseball hat that he rarely left the house with.

"He's literally avoiding me. G _reat_ ," She sighed before getting up with the plans to follow him. But as she did so a bike she had to un-elegantly missed rode past her quickly. In an effort to avoid it she jumped backwards out of the way as the bike swerved almost crashing. The scorching streaks of the bike pulling to a sudden stop made her cringe back further, but as she did so her back smashed into something hard and human like.

The bike was quick to get back on their feet, giving her the middle finger before riding off again with no harm done.

"holy shit, I am so sorry,"

"No, no, my bad," a nice smooth voice replied casually, putting a hand on her arm to keep her straight as she turned around to face the victim of the situation, starting from his feet to his head. He was wearing jogging trousers and was a dark skinned man and he certainly wasn't unattractive, but as she reached his face she –with a shock jolt to the heart that she swore nearly killed her – realised who he was, "Holy Shit. You're, like… the falcon. Shit man"

"Uh, yeah," he raised his eyebrows. _The falcon_ literally raised his eyebrows at _her_ , she could have died inside. She had to tell her dad about this "Yeah I am" mouth hanging open she had to mentally force herself to shut it, "I'm trying to keep a low profile, so don't start yelling out please"

"yeah, sure, course I won't. This is amazing- I'm just in a small town park and you're here. In front of me. I could have bumped into absolutely anyone! And it was you…" she wasn't quite aware of what she was saying. The words were being thrown out like verbal diarrhea and she had become mindless to her own talking, "sorry, I'm rambling, feel free to switch off, most people do. My boyfriend-" her mind gave a massive, surging groan as she remembered Buck who was no more than fifty metres away. He could probably see them right now, meaning the falcon could probably see him.

"Boyfriend, eh?" Sam's smile grew into a smirk as he playfully flirted, "shame"

"Really? Me? Okay…" She accepted, smiling to herself that the falcon found her attractive. Perhaps superheroes just had a thing for her. She laughed the thought inside of her head thinking this was probably the most surrealist thing to ever happen to her, "Anyway… yeah, probably should get back to him"

"Oh, sure," he extended his arm out giving her the route of the path once again, "you sure you don't want an autograph or something. Most people want an autograph. Or my number. If you want"

She couldn't supress the grin at his boldness, "nice but I'm gonna have to say no. I can't believe I'm saying it but no thanks"

"You're call"

With the conversation sadly over she turned to look behind her at Bucky, looking nervously as she could already see her talking with Sam Wilson. His elbows were rested on his knees as he leant forward, keeping his keen eye trained on the two of them and she suspected he was closely observing, confused as to what was happening. He knew she didn't have any close friends in America that would stop for a chat.

Her main concern at the moment was getting the falcon as far away from him as possible. He had worked so hard to get his life on track; she didn't need something as small as being seen by one of Captain America's sidekicks to scare him off for good.

"That him?"

"hm…" She buzzed, turning around again.

"The boyfriend?"

"Uh… yes- no," she quickly changed her mind half way through; worried he would observe Bucky closer for some reason. She tried to keep the straightest face she could muster as he narrowed his eyes with suspicion, "anyway, better be going… bye"

She turned on her heel and walked away quickly, her mind buzzing as she focused on not falling over and result in more embarrassment in front of a famous superhero.

She caught up to Bucky who was nervously fiddling with the glove on his left hand, looking like a lost puppy who had just been ditched by its owner. She reached down to take his hand, wanting to remove those stupid leather gloves he wore and reveal to the world of who he was and how little danger he was.

"Let's go get some kebabs. I'm starving"

"Anything to quiet your hunger groaning," he said. Charley swapped his shoulder playfully as a smile spread across his face, but he quickly sobered, "I'm never planning on leaving you by the way. I only mentioned it at Christmas because I'm worried it'll one day come to that"

"I know," she sighed, letting go of his hand, "I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up again"

It was a short lived quick conversation but it was enough to reset her fears. She knew neither one of them would bring it up again, knowing if they did it would destroy the fake illusion that they had going, that everything was fine and an organization called hydra was not after him, that she wasn't breaking the law by harbouring him and that he wasn't an ex-assassin "Who was that guy?" Bucky asked out of nowhere.

"No one," she said absently, swooping up his hand again and interlocking with them as they walked to the exit of the park. The air suddenly gave a swoosh of chilly wind and the cold was beginning to set in once again. It was wishful thinking the weather would stay nice much longer. It was still winter after all. She turned around just in time to see Sam begin a new lap. She hadn't wanted to lie to Bucky. She wasn't the kind of person to lie to a boyfriend for self-gain, but the selfish nagging part of her couldn't bring herself to telling him. He would only freak out and may leave again. She couldn't risk that.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Sam had been meaning to turn around again as soon as the girl had ended their abruptly ended their conversation but his eye had caught the man she was walking to, the man who she presumed was her boyfriend (even though she had swiftly denied it, which did seem strange. But perhaps it was a secret relationship, who was he to judge).

He thought he had imagined it. The man had been absently fiddling with his gloves on his left hand where he strangely only had one glove on one hand. He stopped in his tracks observing the silver metallic reflection that appeared under the glove for a short snappy second before the girl appeared in front of him, taking his hand.

Sam took a few steps closer whilst she had his back to him. Wondering if he was completely paranoid, or if he had been working on the missing persons case for so long now that he had just gone slightly delusional. The man certainly had long hair and was sitting stiffly but it could be completely coincidental. He had a half mind to get closer, but his military instincts kicked in reminding him that he needed a plan first. Acting on impulse was not his style and the two could be a completely normal couple.

Surely the winter soldier wouldn't have stuck around Washington DC for much longer after the helicarrier crash. It was illogical and not a safe tactic on his part. Nevertheless he tried to recall as much detail as he could about the two of them. He told himself he was right to be suspicious, he knew what a guy looked like when they were undercover or trying to keep a low profile, having donned a baseball cap and wearing thick clothing in the summer weather was definitely something suspicious.

The girl, however, seemed perfectly normal. Small, brunette, and he was sure he spied her wearing a target uniform. Nothing seemed strange or off about the girl, apart from her reaction to mentioning her boyfriend. Maybe it had been completely harmless but the picture of the metal reflection wasn't being let go lightly. He knew he had seen it.

A little bit more worried now he quickened his pace before finally reaching the hotel he and Steve had been staying at for the past week, trying to retrace any steps they could to find the missing winter soldier who clearly didn't want to be found (not that Sam would bring that up with Steve who was determined to find his missing best friend).

"Steve, open up!" Sam knocked on his friends hotel room door rapidly, "Something happened at the park. It might be worth us checking it out"

The door swung open revealing Steve already up and dressed with his coat on, ready to leave. Behind him, his shield was leant up against the wall casually as if it was nothing more than an average hat and scarf.

"What is it?" Steve asked hopefully, "Did you find something to do with Bucky?"

"I don't know if it's related but if it is it's weird," he began to explain, walking into the hotel room, not bothering to wait for an invite. He knew Steve would be cool with it, "I may have imagined it but I don't think I did"

He reencountered the story but as he said it he was beginning to feel a little more sceptical about the conclusion he had come to. It could easily have been the catch of the light that caused the metallic reflection and maybe the girls odd behaviour had been due to something else entirely. However, Steve was hanging onto every word he said, nodding and frowning to asses the situation. Sam was just worried he'd given his friend false hope.

" _Gloves_? The guy was wearing gloves, on a day like this?" Steve's brow furrowed together as he thought, "So you're saying you think you saw Bucky"

"I don't know what I saw," Sam quickly said for fear he'd raised Steve's hopes too high. He had been trying to grasp at any new information he could on his lost friend and he didn't want to lead him into another spiral of disappointment when these two turned out to be a couple of nobodies, "I don't exactly think Barnes has been in Washington all this time, laying low with a chick"

"Good point," Steve assessed but Sam noticed his shoulder slumping a little, "Are you sure you didn't just imagine the metal?"

"Man, I'm _sure_ it was metal but we can check it out just to be sure," Sam said.

"If you're sure then we will. We'll go there tomorrow, see if they show up again. If it's still suspicious we can get Tony to track their movement. I don't want to jump to conclusions though; they could be completely normal people that spent the day at the park and we'd be spying on them"

"I've got a gut feeling about this"

"Okay then," Steve sent a reassuring smile to his friend who gave a nod of thanks back. Suddenly he was a lot more hopeful. They'd been looking for almost a year now and there had been nothing, no clue, not even a footprint that suggested what direction he'd gone in and Steve was beginning to settle on the fact that his best friend didn't want to be found. But he couldn't just give up. That wasn't even an option.

 **A/N**

 **Apparently i'm really bad with coming up with chapter names now, I keep forgetting I have a food thing going on and need to include it for the chapter. oops. Just role with it, lol :D**

 **Bitch Ate My cupcake: I'm so sorry for taking so long to update the last chapter. You're one of my fav reviewers so of course I'll give you a heads up next time** **I guess I was just busy with school and work last month (I am sooo behind on all my lessons I'm literally hysterically laughing half the time about how much I'm failing to yay!) but I love this fic so don't worry I will never not update, I'm continuing this until it's done. That's a promise. I'm glad you enjoyed the ideas of the present, and obviously the book charley got him is the book in civil war. I felt a little bad about Bucky's present towards Charley. He put a lot of thought into the present and she didn't even want it. Lol. The phone will come up in about 3-5 chapters. So soon.**

 **Drean: Thank you so much! Means so much you're enjoying the story and I'll try and update ASAP, I'm setting myself a week's target from now on out. If I ever get lacking in chapters just PM telling me to get a move on, because usually it's cause I'm procrastinating.**

 **Afreakbynature: Thank you so much, I'm so excited to start writing the newt few chapters because it's working towards civil war**

 **FangedMe: thank you so much, means a lot!**

 **.2016: THANK YOU!**

 **KnightOwl247: Thank you so much, as always your review makes my day**

 **Haileynh: thanks. You're literally one of my fav reviewers. I think we're all a little childish when it comes to Christmas, I know I am (I was literally singing Christmas songs in the car today ngl) Hope you enjoyed this chappy :D**

 **Guest: Sorry it took so long to get the last chapter to you but I'm back on track now with updates! I've not been Ill yet this year and I fear it'll be Christmas time it hits, just like Charley. Also thank you for understanding about studying. I'm falling behind on so many of my lessons, I literally had a break down at school today and I've never had a breakdown at school before so I'm like 'eeek, my whole life is falling apart and it's only November' lol. But thank you so so much for understanding**

 **Inperfection: THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEW, made me smile. Let's be real, Bucky probably stole the gun, let alone registering it. Lol. And with her presents to him I was trying to incorporate the book in civil war which is the journal she gets him. And no, I guess she didn't, she was too worried about him leaving and her life feeling a bit 'pointless again'. As you can see Steve is on the hunt for Bucky this chapter, and we'll be seeing more and more of him in the next few chapters so yay! And thank you, I hope you're doing well too x**

 **Hkhorch: ahhh another amazing review. I feel so lucky, literally this was such a lovely review so thank you so much. I know last chapter took forever, I hope I made up for it with this one and yeah I was good whilst MIA, I was just getting stressed with school and procrastinating most of my life. Lol. How have you been? Glad you enjoyed last chapter with the presents and the 'I love you' and that it was as emotional as I intended :D**


	25. Frozen Peas

She picked up some hamburgers with the sudden thought of making them for Bucky, as she passed them behind her absently to Bucky's outstretched hands. She refused to get a basket, knowing she'd end up spending way much more than she needed. This way it meant she would only be able to get what she could hold – or rather, what Bucky could hold (in her defence he had volunteered, and she wasn't going to turn down the offer of someone holding her shopping for her)

The months had passed by for the two of them, and Charley was happy to report that she hadn't seen a sight of the Falcon since her last cross with him. Maybe they really were in the clear.

She guided Bucky through the aisles, putting everything chocolate she could see into the basket as the super soldier's arms became considerably lacks, his muscles giving way as he shifted his arms to make it more comfortable.

"You alright there," She observed over the freezer after she had ducked down to get a couple of pizza's, "You seem to be struggling"

"No, it's fine. Just a lot of food," he replied, looking down at his hands with an eyebrow raised humorously.

She wagged a finger at him, "don't judge. I've figured since I'm putting all this exercise into training then to make up the weight I'm losing I need to eat more," she came up with the excuse on the spot, spotting Bucky roll his eyes after she picked up some frozen chocolate cake to weight him down further, "I'm compensating"

"Is that how you're seeing it?"

"I said no judging," She humoured him; "anyway it was you that said I needed to put one hundred percent into training and I am, am I not?"

"You're doing alright."

"I'm doing brilliantly." It was a little bit of an exaggeration. She still hadn't managed to take down Bucky yet but he had seventy years' experience on top of her so she wasn't holding that against herself, but she could at least last a good five minutes before collapsing on the ground in a sweat after Bucky had pinned her down. Not that she complained, "Just wait. Soon enough I'll be kicking your arse"

"You're right. I should be scared," Bucky raised his hands in mock surrender. Satisfied she'd made her point she turned around another aisle leaving Bucky following after her. She regretted instantly turning down this way as rows and rows of TV's lined the shelves, it was as if they were mocking her for the lack of money in her bank account. She really could do with an upgrade on a new television but she really didn't have the money to make that kind of investment. She moved passed the screens quickly before she stayed too long to tease herself further but didn't make it until the end of the aisle before she realized Bucky wasn't following.

He was staring straight ahead perplexed at the screen that was playing the news. The red bar flashing 'Breaking news' was what brought her attention. The news report wasn't on some presenter but rather taken from a very shaky camera, the images blurry as they showed flashes of what looked like a large piece of land flying upwards in the air, rising higher and higher. Flashing of red and green whizzed past the screen.

"Is this live?" Charley asked to no one in particular, knowing Bucky wouldn't know the answer.

Soon enough every person who walked onto the aisle was standing next to Charley and Bucky (Bucky was growing more and more concerned with the lack of personal space, moving closer and closer to Charley until he took her hand for support). Everyone around them was only just seeing the news for the first time.

Sokovia was under attack.

And not from anything human.

The camera seemed to be trying to zoom in on something particular. It wasn't a very good camera but what she could make out was a round thing that was red white and blue. She moved her eyes over to Bucky who shifted where he stood, shuffling from side to side now looking for somewhere else to look.

The store went into a state of panic as it exploded into chatter. It was a thunderous noise as everyone tried to get their say and talk over one another. Charley focused on Bucky who remained motionless and by the end of the new clip it seemed everyone who had been in the store had crowded around the TV's.

"Do you think they're coming here next?" Someone mentioned next to her as they looked around the others in shock.

"No the avengers will stop it"

"Will they?" another person put forward, "My bet is they started this"

Charley posed them a glare but stayed silent, not wanting to draw attention to herself and Bucky but someone who had been trying to reach the front for a better look knocked into Bucky,

His cap was knocked off of his head, along with the food Charley had been collecting fell aimlessly onto the floor as he accidently knocked into Charley who caused a domino effect, knocking into each person as she went. There was a moment of silence as Charley gathered herself back onto her feet before spotting the hat hastily thrown on the floor. Her eyes caught Bucky as there was a momentarily intake of breath. It was like a Mexican wave. The closest went quiet first as it spread further back until all that could be heard was the thumping of Charley's heart that felt like it was going to explode from her chest.

"Is that the winter soldier?" Someone whispered from within the crowd. It was the loudest noise anyone had made in minutes.

"From the fall of Shield?"

"The Hydra agent?"

"Someone call the police!"

"STOP HIM!"

A few people were trying to get through. Charley saw someone out of the corner of her eye grab a stick like object and wield it above their head like a sword, prepared to attack. Bucky may have no choice but to attack them if it got further out of hand.

Bucky flashed a look at Charley, something flickering in his eyes that seemed to scream that he was intensely debating something. She didn't have time to figure out how they were going to get out of this situation before he sprung at her, grabbing her by the shoulders and spinning her around so that his metal arm was around her neck. She screamed in panic as the crowd cried out.

"Everyone back!" Bucky growled as he held Charley. She clutched onto his arm for dear life that was shaking considerably for a solid metallic material.

The crowd quickly dispersed, making a gap where Bucky was able to pull Charley through. She really had no idea what was going to happen. Had the winter soldier cracked through? Was he brainwashed? Should she be scared for her life right now? The answer that came to her immediately was; no. There was something strangely safe about it. As safe as you can feel with a metal arm around your neck, anyway.

Bucky quickly pulled them from the store. No one tried to 'help' Charley but a few dove for their mobile phones at the bottom of their bags.

He got them both outside and pulled them into the alley way right next to the store which they used to dispose of their bins. It was a dead end, however.

As soon as no one was around, Charley jumped away from his grasp, feeling for her neck to make sure it was definitely still there. Her hands rubbing it where she could feel a pulse charging through it.

"Are you alright?" he turned to her, quickly darting his head around the corner to make sure no one was coming.

"Bucky! What the hell?" She cried, finally removing her hands from her neck only to slap him on the arm with as much force as she could muster in her current state of panic, "I thought you'd fucking gone insane and turned all winter soldier mode on me!"

"I'm sorry," he pleaded, his arms reaching to hers to calm her down, "I didn't know what to do. I had to get us out of there"

"By pretending to take me hostage?! They have CCTV in there, Bucky. How could you be so stupid?"

"How the hell was I supposed to get us both out of there?"

"I don't know. Not chocking me would be a start!" Her voice reached a new octave.

"I'm really sorry," he said, "I panicked"

"So did I when I had a metal arm around my bloody neck!"

"I wouldn't have hurt you," he told her clearly, breaking the gap between them so he could wrap an arm around her. For a moment she considered rejecting him and pushing him away. She was really pissed, and really couldn't see what a hug would do to reconcile her anger but the store alarms began to rhythmically beep and a whimper escaped her lips as she collapsed back into him.

"Just don't do it again"

"I don't plan on it"

The lights of blue and red began flashing around the corner and soon enough followed the whirring buzz of police sirens. Alarmed, Charley faced Bucky for instructions on what to do next. If he was panicked he hid it well as he calmly told her, "I'm going to go, the police are going to question you. Just stay calm and make it look like I took you hostage"

"I can't do that," She hissed through gritted teeth as he turned to leave, "Why can't I go with you?"

"Because then they'll be a man hunt for you and you won't be able to return back to your apartment tonight," he rolled his eyes at her arguing, as if it was obvious.

"Will _you_ be coming back to the apartment tonight?"

"I'll try," he went to turn again but Charley placed a firm hand on his hand, barely preventing him from leaving as he could easily shrug her off but the sudden touch of flesh to flesh stunned him.

"So I have to paint you as the villain to the police? Is that what you're saying?"

"I can't think of any way out of this," he frowned, "I'm sorry for getting you into this"

She smiled sadly. She really hated him for this but knew he felt bad too. She could tell he had been trying desperately to hold her as loosely as possible whilst still making it convincing. Otherwise she was sure her neck would be covered in bruises by now. Bucky gave her a quick peck on the cheek before dashing off, jumping up the building roof leaving her left on the floor. The building suddenly seemed a lot taller than before. They dwarfed her, as Bucky swiftly disappeared just as the police appeared from the ally way entrance. They held their guns straight and prominent, looks of fear coating their eyes.

At the sight of the guns, Charley jumped, raising her hand in the air.

"Where's the winter soldier?"

"He left"

"Which direction?"

Panic began to settle as she looked in every direction he could possibly have gone other than the one he _actually had_ gone. Before she looked too suspicious she pointed in the first direction that her brain brought her to and ended up firing a thumb behind her.

"Are you the hostage?"

"Uh… yeah, I guess," she hated this. Her head was spinning like crazy as police dashed towards her. Most of them went past her in a wild rush to find Bucky (or the winter soldier, as they preferred) who was probably long gone by now. Something was draped around Charley's shoulders and with a slight nudge of the shoulders she was guided forward. She realized a police officer had stayed behind to assist her.

"Miss, are you alright?" The officer asked, but Charley's concentration was focused elsewhere to notice anything of what he was asking her. She closed her eyes, trying to imagine what she was going to say. She would have to make it out she had no idea who Bucky was, that in itself was an impossible task and then she would have to give details into how Bucky was the villain of the situation.

"You're just going to take a seat in the ambulance," the officer told her, guiding her to the ambulance where sure enough he turned her around and pushed on her shoulder slightly until she slumped on the ambulance doors edge. She was half trying her hardest to act like a shell shocked victim, acting off of the panic that was beginning to bubble up within her. She almost gagged when the officer pulled out a notebook, "you don't need to answer anything yet, but I will need to ask you a few questions eventually."

She gave a slight nod of the head for him to continue, knowing if she waited any longer the panic of not knowing what they are going to ask her would kill her.

"What happened?"

"Haven't you been informed already?"

"I need your perspective I'm afraid"

She gave a large gulp, took a deep breath, before finally preparing herself to answer, "I was just shopping."

"And then what?"

"I stopped at the TV section because of the news about the avengers?" the officer wasn't looking at her but rather bent over scribbling notes furiously. Charley was glad.

"Then what happened?"

"People noticed Bu- The winter soldier was there?" She began saying slowly, realizing she was entering the dangerous territory as she began making up the rest of the story in her head, hoping it would flow together nicely, "I think he panicked and just wanted to get out of there, so he grabbed me-"

"Why do you say that?" The officer finally looked up.

"Oh…" she wanted to be swallowed up by the ground. She wasn't religious, nor did she believe in any god but in her head she began repeating a prayer to someone, anyone, that they'd help her out right about now. She didn't want Bucky to be the villain here, but she didn't think they'd be anyway out of this, "as soon as we got to the ally he had let go and apologized"

"So you talked to him?"

"Not really, that was all, he left after that"

"Are you hurt?"

"No. He wasn't holding tightly"

"What did he look like?"

 _Handsome. Sexy. Hot_. She thought inwardly, her lips tempted to smirk as she brushed past the thoughts away. She didn't think this would portray her as the scared victim if she answered as honestly as that.

"I didn't get a good look at his face but I guess long brown hair, about shoulder length, he had stubble," she tried hard to keep her blush under control as she remembered how his stubble scratches her when they kiss. For some reason he was attached to it and refused to have it shaved. The officer waited for more, she didn't really know how much further she could go into detail about him without it looking weird. Could she go into description about the colour of his eyes, the shape of his lips… until she remembered something quite obvious, "oh and a metal arm"

The officer nodded, satisfied. If she was honest she forgot about the metal arm, it had become second nature for her to see it.

"That'll be all for now," The officer flipped his note book shut, "they'll be a few more questions at the station later."

She was taken to the hospital first, where, after hours of unnecessary medical examinations she was finally driven to the police station. She was glad for the detour however, as it gave her time to concoct a well-crafted story that explained why she had been shopping with Bucky beforehand, for she knew they would have checked CCTV to prove it.

What she wasn't glad about was the doctor passing her a note detailing free three month sessions of therapy in order to help recover from her' traumatic' experience.

"What's this for?"

"We give it to all patients who have gone through an experience that could effect them mentally in the long run," the doctor explained as he was escorting her out of the doctors room back towards where a police officer was waiting.

"But I don't need it."

"From my doctoring experience, you do seem very unaffected by the situation," he said, "This either means you do truly not need the therapy or you're still in shock and the effect of the events today haven't hit you yet and therefore you are repressing it. It's a requirement for you to go I'm afraid, just so we can get a thorough examination"

She wanted to scream in frustration but ended up accepting the free therapy sessions just to get out of there and go home, but she still had the worst part to face. The interrogation.

"Are you comfortable, do you need anything else?" The officer asked her as she was sat down in an interrogation room. She'd never been in one before, and had only ever seen them from TV shows and movies. It was a lot brighter than she would have imagined, a large window was beside her, letting the room swim with light (despite the cold steel rails around it). On the table in front of her where her hands were resting were handcuffs wrapped around a metal bar. Trying not to look nervous, she gulped and slid her hands off of the table; afraid she'd be found guilty of something and chained up.

"No. I'm fine"

"Okay," the officer said, sliding into the seat opposite her., "From your time at the hospital we've reviewed the footage in the store-"

"Have you found him?" She asked quickly before she got into the intense questioning.

"No. I'm afraid not, but you can be rest assured we are doing our best," he said with a smile trying to sooth her worry, however they both were worrying for completely different reasons, "Washington is in lock down for the next six hours. No one can get in or out"

"What happens after the six hours and you still haven't found him?"

"We will have to resume our search with much less task force."

"Meaning you'll be less likely to find him?" she asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately, yes," he frowned at the unsatisfactorily answer, "but we're doing the best we can." _They stand no chance,_ Charley thought; this man had been able to hide from everyone for the past seventy years. Granted, then he did have Hydra backing him up, but he would still be fine.

"Right," The officer sighed, gathering together his documents, "We've reviewed the CCTV footage within the story. Unfortunately the stores CCTV hasn't been upgraded in the last decade so we only managed to see this shot here," he clicked a button on a remote control and the screen behind him, that Charley hadn't previously noticed, lit up showing the CCTV footage of Charley and Bucky walking into the store. She smiled to herself, this would make it ten times easier. Bucky was a little way behind her as he did a little wobbly jog to catch up to Charley who had already quick walked off of the camera in search of food. She had to pretend to cough as she pulled a hand over her mouth to 'catch it' when really she was trying to suppress a smile. She hadn't noticed he had jogged to catch up with her before.

"Can you explain what happened before you entered the store? Had he approached you?"

"No. I don't even remember him being behind me," She lied, "Probably because I didn't know who he was"

"Okay," he scribbled down some notes, "If you can, tell me what happened in the TV section. We've asked eyewitnesses but I need your account"

She took a deep breath, "I think I happened to be there at the same time as him when the news came on about Sokovia and the avengers. Everyone else gathered around and at the end of the report someone noticed that the winter soldier was there. He grabbed me and used me to get out of the store and then took me to an alleyway where he quickly left"

"Did you interact at all?"

"In the alley he told me he was sorry before leaving," it wasn't exactly untrue, she was just missing out some _minor_ details.

The questions continued, most of them she had answered before. It ran smoothly for the most apart until she accidently referred to the winter soldier as Bucky. Luckily, the officer didn't seem to notice the difference.

Just as she thought they were wrapping things up, a more older, senior officer entered the room with a laptop.

"What's this?" Charley asked as the laptop was placed in front of her.

She almost fell off her chair from the sight that was suddenly placed before her, as a hand slapped over her mouth to cover the gasp that escaped her.

On the screen there was a mini box of a grainy web camera. There, sat in the centre of the screen was none other than Captain Steve Rogers. The background was mostly black but every now and then she would catch the glimpse of something glistening.

"Sorry, I know this is a bit of a surprise"

"You're telling me…" Charley muttered but then came to her sense, "Hang on, I thought you were dealing with the Sokovia business"

"That ended two hours ago. We're just trying to get everyone back to safety, Right now I'm on a shield helicarrier," Steve told her, looking around him just as three women limping walked past him. Steve looked back at the camera, frowning, "I asked the police if there was any new updates in the winter soldier case to let me know, I just got the call about you and wanted to ask you a few questions. I'd be there in person if I could be"

Charley half glanced up at the officers in the room with her, wishing they would leave. Now might be the best opportunity she'd ever have to come clean. Bucky needed Steve now more than ever.

When the officers didn't look like they would be shifting anytime soon, she looked back down at the camera, "Sure… ask away"

"They're telling me he spoke to you?" Steve asked, his eyes lighting up at the slightest information that Bucky was still alive. It was a lot harder to retain her eye contact with the captain and answer with lies than it had been the officers. Steve just wanted to know where his best friend was, and she could understand more than anyone the agony it is of not knowing where someone as incredible as James Buchanan Barnes was. She felt just as helpless right now, knowing he was running from the law without her beside him.

"Yeah, he told me he was sorry after he had used me to get out of the store"

"He said he was sorry?" Steve's eyebrows furrowed together.

"I think…" she cast an eye to the officers standing in the corner watching her closely. She moved closer to the computer and lowered her tone as if she was about to tell him something only he could hear, even though the officers could still hear her loud and clear and she knew it, "I think he was just scared and reacted on impulse. Everyone was looking at him and he just wanted to get out, he saw me as an escape root"

"You never told us that's how you felt," one of the officers piped up. She chose to ignore them as Steve opened his mouth to speak.

"You think?"

"Yeah"

Steve slouched back in his chair, a tilt of a smile curving onto his cheeks but he quickly dropped into a frown, "And he attacked you?"

"Not really. It was pretty obvious he didn't want the attention on himself"

Steve debated this, "It's just a bit odd he's stuck around in Washington all this time. Wonder what's keeping him there?" he said more to himself. Charley's lips thinned as she tried not to give anything away. Thankfully, Steve quickly pulled himself out of this internal monologue before Charley broke, telling him everything, "Thank-you," he said earnestly, "I'll let you get back to your day"

"You too Captain"

"Please, call me Steve," he waved it off, pressing a button beside him as the camera switched off.

"Is that all?" She asked the officers who gave her a curt nod, swiping the laptop from underneath her nose.

It wasn't all, as after she escaped the interrogation room she had to fill in numerous forms full off information about her until she was finally free and completely worn out.

She must have missed so many red lights blindly as she rushed home as Charley managed to reach the apartment building within ten minutes of leaving the police station. She ran out, forgetting to lock her car and having to rush back out before dashing back up the apartment's steps, desperate to know if she'd beaten Bucky home.

However, something was amiss as her door lay ajar. Pausing she evaluated the situation. The lock wasn't broken, meaning they must have had a key. Perhaps Bucky had simply forgotten to lock the door… but that wasn't like him.

Carefully she pushed the door open but found a much bigger force was needed to make way for her body to squeeze through the sides, the door stuck behind something. Once she managed to fit through a tiny gap she gasped at the state of her apartment.

It was a mess. Everything was overturned and her table was smashed in two, one half of her Stark edition laptop lay at her feet, the other cascaded far across the other side of the room. Her curtains had been torn to pieces, the strands of material dangling off the edge of the window sill and her window had a single crack slicing through it.

The worst part was the smell. The horrid stench of blood and guts made Charley almost run out of the apartment again to be sick as she forced herself to hold back the gagging.

Mabel came pouncing over to her as soon as the door slammed against the table leg, stroking up against the side of her leg like a magnet unable to unhinge itself. Charley knelt down to pick her up and hold her close, more as a comfort blanket for her own needs as she gathered up the courage to venture further into her apartment.

"Buck?" She whispered, "Please say you're here"

A male grunt made her scream as she spun around, finding a corpse like figure lying mangled on her floor. She dived towards them, thinking the sound was Bucky but retreated quickly when the bloody face was a complete stranger. The man's face was covered in blood, cuts and scars layered all in one, so much so that he was almost inhuman. She was surprised he was still alive. He was clutching onto his rib where a large gash ran through, blood seeping through his fingers. He seemed to be in some kind of uniform. Charley tried to read the logo on his arm but it was rendered unrecognizable from all the crimson blood having stained it.

"Oh my god. Are you alright?" that was a stupid question, "what can I do. Just hang on, let me call an ambulance or something"

She went to get up and reach for her phone when the stranger seized her arm. His grip unnervingly strong for a frail, dying man.

"Hail Hydra," the man whispered sinisterly, releasing her from his strong grip and inching his hands down lower towards his pockets with slow and steady movements. Charley gasped, eyeing the logo one more time and identifying the black head of the hydra symbol, almost completely covered in crimson blood.

Heart beating double hard she retreated back but as his hand curled around something within his pocket she reacted on impulse, jabbing him in the side as he dropped whatever was in his pocket to clutch his rib in agonizing pain.

With the distraction she reached into his pocket and swiped a gun from him, throwing it across the room,.

"Who the hell are you!" She growled, anger seeping through every word as she dove for his collar, gripping it fiercely. If he truly was a hydra agent he had found a way into her home and discovered who she was. These were the people who had put Bucky through so much hell, "How does hydra fucking know where I live!"

She was quite impressed, even in the face of death the hydra agent managed to force out a chuckle, "We never lost him. We were simply observing his movements"

Taken aback she retreated, "That's a lie. You only know from the stuff on the news about him today. You can't have known."

"Hydra knows more than you think it does," He laughed, his cackle piercing her ears, "Charlotte Anne Weller. Twenty two, works at Target Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday on a eight hour shift. Sometimes picks up a Sunday shift if you really need the money and with only thirty dollars in your bank account I understand why. You like to take your Tuesday lunch at the park-"

"How do you know how much money I have?"

"Hydra knows everything," the man whistled but lurched back in pain when Charley kicked him in the side again.

"I know you're just trying to intimidate me," Charley hissed, "but it won't work." Even though she already knew he had won. She wondered how long they'd been watching her. Quite a while in order to figure out her shift patterns. Her eyes skimmed the apartment, almost expecting to see a camera watching her.

"Charley, get away from him," A rough familiar voice said from behind her. It was like music to her ears. She turned and rose slowly, facing Bucky who looked no better than the hydra agent. His clothes ripped in parts, his face a bloody mess as he supported a large blackened eye which was puffing it. The worst of his injuries, however, seemed to be in his right shoulder where he was holding a blood soaked tea towel.

"He knows stuff about me, how does he know stuff about me?" her voice shook as she moved towards him, never happier to see him. Even though the hydra agent was practically dead on the floor she couldn't wait to get away from him, creeped out and feeling a lot less vulnerable with Bucky by her side.

"They've known I've been here all along," Bucky growled between gritted teeth. Charley wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or anger, "This man was planning on attacking you. Luckily I got home before you did"

"You don't look much better? What's wrong with your shoulder?"

"it's just a bullet, it'll be fine-"

"Bucky!"

"I'm fine"

"Wha-"

"I said I'd be fine," Bucky hissed, silencing her. His face was twisting menacingly into the image of the winter soldier as he stared at the hydra agent. The more Charley thought about it, the more she realized he hadn't even looked in her direction since she'd seen him enter the room.

"Buck, what are you gonna do to him?"

"Depends on how he answers my questions," Bucky snarled, limping forward on an apparently dodgy leg.

"My apartment isn't sound proof. Look, I'm all up for you getting revenge on a hydra agent. Probably one responsible for what they made you into, but I can't let you torture someone in here," She begged, taking a step forward, placing a hand on his other shoulder, "If my neighbours hears screams coming from my apartment, they're gonna ring the police. I'm surprised they haven't already and It won't exactly be a good sign, considering I've just come from the station where I was interrogated by none other than Captain America himself" she gorged desperately for a reaction, as the threat of him snapping this man's neck right in front of her was becoming a real possibility.

As if right on cue, Bucky's face softened and he faced down to look at Charley in the eyes.

"You spoke to Steve?"

"Yeah… he'd just battled hundreds of those evil robot things in Sokovia only to take a break just so he could have a video chat with me simply to find out where you were," She said desperately trying to hold back tears, "I almost told him everything because I was so scared. I knew he'd be able to help you but I didn't and I would really appreciate it if I could just have my Bucky back because I'm still really scared right now"

Bucky inhaled a breath and she dared to move her hand away from his shoulder feeling as if she was in safe territory again.

"I'm sorry," Bucky apologized, "Come here."

He wrapped his good arm around her, and pulled her close. She nuzzled into his shoulders, feeling his warmth, so that his chin was resting on her head.

"Thank you" She mumbled not realizing she had been shaking quite so intently beforehand as Bucky's touch suddenly made her calm down, "What do we do no-"

"Hail hydra," The man said again, interrupting their moment as they pulled apart quickly the sound of fizzing could be heard. White froth erupted from the hydra agent's mouth as it dripped down his cheek onto her floor. He began to shake, his wobbly hands going towards his neck where he hurled upwards coughing and wheezing in desperate attempts to catch some air. Charley let go of Bucky and ducked down beside the agent.

"What the hell happened?" She exclaimed, trying to turn him onto his back but with his remaining strength the hydra agent fought her off before he finally, with a heavy gurgle, collapsed lifeless on the floor. His eyes still madly open, "Oh my god…"

"It's an old technique employed by Hydra agents. They have a poison in their which can choke them to death if activated. It keeps them from spilling any secrets"

"They must really believing in this hydra crap to do that," Charley mumbled still taking all the information in, "I just watched someone die…"

"Charley, it's okay. I'll clean it all up," But he took one step and ended up collapsing onto what remained of the couch, his leg having giving way, "agh!"

"Shit, Buck! Just stay there, let me get some bandage or something to sort this out-"

Whilst she really didn't want to see the sight of the dead agent on her floor, Bucky's needs were greater than her own as she had to jump over the agents sprawled out legs to get to the kitchen. Here she rummaged through the cupboards, her mind having forgotten where the bandages would be. Everything seemed foreign all of a sudden.

She finally found what she was looking for in the back of the cupboard before she grabbed some frozen peas in the fridge that she thought would help to numb the pain. Rushing back into the living room, she almost tripped over her cat who was tracing her every footstep.

"Here," she said, siding onto the couch by his legs. The leg he was holding was positioned in a crooked and stiff way. He held onto it, biting his lips to stop any sound escaping, "Let me just…" with her own hand she held onto his and moved it away from his leg so she had room to place the bandage over it. Carefully she unravelled it, placing the white cloth over his leg.

He didn't complain once. Charley tried to keep her eyes on his leg, afraid if she turned her head even a fraction, she'd catch sight of the dead agent.

"This'll just support it a little better until it heals," she said quietly, "You should probably just rest here and I'll…" she looked over at the dead body, her stomach dropping. How on earth was she supposed to get this out of her apartment without raising suspicion.

"No. I need to get rid of him," Bucky pushed himself up from the couch with a hefty effort, "I also need to find all the people _this_ man was supposed to report to. He won't be working alone"

"Bucky, you can hardly walk," She tried to reason but he was already forcing himself up.

"I've got no other choice," he replied, "and I need to get rid of the body"

"You've been bloody shot in the shoulder, Bucky, you can't lift anything let alone a body!"

"Well it can't stay here and there are still hydra agents out there. I need to find them"

He finally got onto his feet where he stumbled a bit and had to use the chair for support as he hopped towards the body.

Charley watched as he carefully ducked down and lifted the man's arms over his shoulder and with a great heave (mostly using his metal arm) managed to pull him over his shoulder, "Where are you gonna put him?"

"I'll find somewhere"

"You're not gonna come back are you?" as she suspected, he didn't answer but continued to steadily walk towards her door, "I'll come with you. Let me just go get a few bits-" she got up and began to look around for a large bag where she could fit a few things into. Her phone. A few changes of clothing. Toothbrush.

"Charley, you know you can't come with me"

She frowned, "The hydra agent just told us that they've been watching me and you think _now_ is the best time to leave. I don't even know if I could have taken on that dying man on my floor, let alone a fully able one. You can't just leave like this!"

With a struggle he managed to prop up the hydra agent against the wall before pulling something out of his coat pocket.

"When you first came in I was getting this. I was planning on leaving before you even saw me and leave this behind," He held it out to her. Charley snatched it suddenly angry that he had been originally planning on leaving without saying goodbye first.

"What's this?" She hissed harshly. It was a small flimsy sticky note with a phone number scrawled messily on the back.

"It's Steve's number. I managed to find it. Call him and tell him everything, he should protect you"

He seemed to think that he'd satisfied her with this bit of information as he continued to limp out of the apartment, picking up the agent as he went. In a way she was sort of glad he was injured, it made his movements much slower meaning she had more time to convince him not to go.

"Hold on a minute, you're leaving me and you're just going to get your ex-best friend to look after me like a babysitter," She dove forward, "No. I don't want Steve here, I want you"

"But I can't stay!" Bucky spun around on a single leg, "I want to stay but I can't! Do you know how close tonight was? What would have happened if you'd have come home first? I would have come home to find you dead. I don't know if I could…" his words phased out as his voice broke. Crackling on each word. He managed to mutter, " _holy hell._ I can't even think about losing you"

Slowly she took a step forward, "and I was saved because you were here. What'll happen next time when you're not?"

"You're only in this situation because of me," he reasoned, "And that's what Steve'll be here for. In case you need help"

She felt they had hit a dead end with the conversation as Bucky turned around to leave again. Tears pooled around her eyes. With a croaky voice she managed to ask, "Is there anything that will keep you from leaving?"

"I love you," he said before the door shut behind him.

If she knew running after him would make him come back then she would, but he had already made up his mind.

 **A/N I am so sorry for the long update. It's been such a busy month. I'll reply to reviews tomorrow because I want to update before I go to bed. Thank you so much to all of those who review and stuck with this.**


	26. Dry Cereal

**Chapter 26**

The door slammed shut, and the echo of it ricocheted around the room. Charley stood in the centre suddenly alone in the abyss that was apparently her home.

What was she supposed to do now?

She glanced down at the paper in her hand where Steve's number was written down. She couldn't really make out the numbers in the dark but didn't care anyway. She had no intention of dialling the number. Bubbling annoyance swelled up in her chest as she scrunched the small bit of paper in her hand and let it go from her hand onto the floor, adding to the mess that was her apartment.

Right now she didn't really care. Although the distant smell of blood was distracting from her current emotions. She turned to stare at the massive blood patch that stained her carpet, her anger only increasing at the sight as she grabbed the nearest object to her and flung it across the room at the door, pitifully hoping he would hear it. The object had missed the door completely from her hasty throwing and ended up cracking in half, two metres away from the door.

Still not feeling satisfied Charley grabbed the dinner chairs and with one hand flipped it over, causing a ripple effect as one knocked into the other chairs making them all fall over with a clatter. She let out a scream of annoyance the burning pain in her chest increasing with each object she threw.

Her arms grew weaker the more she punched and threw things. Physically and emotionally aching she finally collapsed onto the couch, drained from energy but her heart wasn't getting the message as it was beating twice as fast and sick rose up in her throat. The minutes dragged on and her cat jumped up onto the couch, curling up beside her. Her hand unconsciously went down to stroke her but she moved away suddenly, shaking.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you," Charley leant out her hand again for her cat to lean into but she didn't and jumped off the couch again, rejecting her owner. Charley felt a tear pool around her eyes before the gates burst open and she couldn't control it anymore. Tears fell from her cheeks before she could stop them, her t-shirt now dossed in blood and tears.

Finally after she was dried out of tears she fell asleep curled up on the couch where Bucky had slept on more times than he had slept with her. It still smelt like him. She breathed it in before falling asleep with the comfort of his smell as if he was there, hoping that maybe some miracle would occur and he would be back in the apartment tomorrow, apologizing profusely.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

He wasn't there when she opened her eyes seven hours later to the sound of her phone alarm whirring in her ear. The buzzing growing louder each time she ignored it.

Finally she grabbed her phone remembering her work shift that started in an hour time. It was too late to call in sick, so with a heavy sigh she forced herself up. From head to toe she felt numb, she could move but she felt nothing from it.

Knowing she was going to be late anyway she took her time getting ready, finding her top at the bottom of her bed, having not been washed, her hair probably needed a showering but she couldn't be bothered. It was already knotty from bed hair but who would even care anyway . She poured herself some dry cereal, deciding to comfort eat rather than start making the journey to work.

When she finally did leave there was traffic filling the roads, making it impossible to move more than a metre in ten minutes. Already half an hour late she decided to pull up by the side of a road, pay a parking metre and walk the rest of the way hoping the fresh air would kick some sense into her and make her feel something. She'd take anything right now.

Eventually she made it into work and accepted Aiden's threats about her job without so much as a cringe and began folding jeans, every so often she looked across at the delivery room where the doors were blacked out. This was supposed to be the shift they shared together.

"Where's James?" Aiden asked, stopping in front of her. She stopped and stared for a moment, trying to work out who he meant by James and then realized that was what everyone called Bucky here.

"How would I know?" She shrugged in defence.

"You two seemed to be close, you went to the Christmas party together, didn't you?"

"That was a long time ago," She said as bitterly as before trying to not look up at him for fear she'd give something away.

"If you say so," Aiden breathed in clearly irritated, "Whatever, look considering you were late I need someone to close up shop tonight."

Still not looking up she reasoned, "I thought that was your job"

"It is but I've got somewhere to be. I'm just saying if you don't want me reporting you lateness to the bosses I'd help me out," his tone got darker, "You get payed extra anyway, I don't know why you're complaining"

"Do it, tell the big bad boss on me. Don't really give a shit," She shrugged, moving him aside so she could reach the jeans that had fallen askew from customers passing.

Stunned, Aiden seethed inwardly, "What's gotten into you?"

"What because I'm not doing you bidding?"

"No, just-"

"Aiden I've had enough of you, just go away please," She ordered him for the first time in her life. For a moment she thought he was going to try and argue but instead he span around and began to waltz away, probably to go bitch about her to one of the other workers there.

She wasn't sure why she argued the way she did. She could do with the extra cash and had no plans for later anyway, with Bucky gone now she could do with the distraction of staying later but the thought of it made her heart do a palpitation. That was how she met him, in the middle of the night on the shop floor, she didn't think he head could deal with that on top of everything else.

Her shift ended after six more hours in hell where she got a decent glare from Aiden as she left the store who now had to stay behind to close up but she couldn't care less, it was in his job description anyway to do so she didn't see why he kept picking on her to do it for him.

When she got home she went straight to bed.

The following day she got up, had breakfast, watched a movie, had a shower, watched another movie and went to bed.

The day after that she got up, had breakfast, watched a movie, went to work for an afternoon shift, was questioned by her bosses about her lateness (assuming Aiden had told them), came home and ordered a take-away and then went to bed.

The next day she got up, skipped breakfast, finally cleaned up the blood stain from her carpet and then to ring Bucky's mobile over and over again but when she'd found it hidden in one of the draws in their bedroom with 12 missed calls, she'd finally had enough and thrown her phone across the room cracking it. She skipped dinner and then went to bed.

After a week of the same routine had passed of no news from anyone Charley felt like she was finally going crazy. She'd cleaned up the last bit of mess from her living room and now it was spick and clean again, cleaner than she'd ever seen it anyway. She had less furniture now, everything had been broken apart from her TV, sofa and dinner table.

She'd barely eaten, only about one meal every day and was starting to lose weight, and becoming considerably weaker. She didn't even want to get out of bed most days. She didn't know what to do with herself, her past year had been completely devoted to getting Bucky on track and now he had just left her.

She couldn't _be_ angrier.

Everywhere she went she was scared for her life now, knowing Hydra knew about her. Half of her wanted to call Steve just so she knew she'd be safe but the other stubborn half of her wanted to remain alone, it was what Bucky wanted… her calling Steve, and why was she at liberty to give him what he wanted when he had left her?

Trying to deflect her thoughts before she hulked out and broke something again, she put in another movie, just so she could critically evaluate her life choices even more. She should have stayed in England. America was such a bad idea, she could be making films right now, just like she wanted to and here she was weeping in her living room where there was still a small trace of a blood stain remained.

Her phone rang and she had to pause the movie. Seeing an unknown number she hesitantly answered it.

"Hello, is this Miss Weller?"

"uh-hu, who's this?"

"Hello I'm Susan, you missed your therapy session this morning?"

"Oh did I?" Charley groaned in annoyance, that was the last thing on her mind. She really didn't have the patience for some therapist analysing her every move and word, "Must have forgotten"

"You can reschedule. We have an opening this afternoon if you'd like"

"Love too," Charley whistled sarcastically but Susan didn't seem to hear the sarcasm as she gave a laugh of delight.

"Great, I'll see you at four tonight," before Charley had time to argue her case the phone cut off leaving a deafening beeping sound.

"Fucking fabulous."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

"Hello, I'm Susan," the therapist in a neat blue suit raised her hand to shake. With a nervous hand, Charley took it, not lingering any longer than necessary as she quickly took a seat in a surprisingly comfy chair.

"Hi, nice to meet you," She introduced giving a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, she had a feeling the therapist noticed too as she began to jot down onto her notes. She really wished people would stop doing that.

"Now I've just got to make it clear, these sessions are just for you to get your feelings in the open, I heard from you doctor what happened to you in the store with the winter soldier? Would you like to talk about that?"

 _Not really._ She thought inwardly breaking eye contact and looking up at an impressively large painting of a metal clad knight on the wall. She wasn't sure if it had been painted intentionally so that the eyes of the knight stared directly down at the patient, putting more pressure on them to answer.

"I'm fine, the doctor just thought I'd be traumatised over it which I get some people would be but it's different."

"Why is that?"

"Just is."

"No offense but what I can see is that you seem very cold, very common in patients who are trying to withdraw themselves from a situation," Susan tried to explain but Charley was having none of it and shook her head quickly.

"That's not what's happening, the events with the winter soldier happened days ago. I'd completely forgotten about it, hence forgetting about these bloody sessions," she said sharply.

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about this let's talk about something else," She tried another tactic, finally placing her pen down on the side-table and crossed her legs to actually listen, "Where do you work?"

"Retail"

"Do you enjoy it there?"

"Not at all."

"Why don't you just quit then?"

"I don't exactly have any qualifications. It's hard to find a job," she said as she added a lie, "I've been looking but nothing has shown up" It was a complete lie obviously, she had gotten settled into her job and never had any time to look for a new one.

"I understand that," Susan smiled sweetly, "What about your personal life. Relationships for instance, are you seeing anyone?"

That was the killer. The exact conversation she wanted to avoid. Charley gulped back air as she tried to come up quickly with a reasonable response but with the metal clad knight staring at her intently and the therapist gawping at her she couldn't think.

"It's complicated," She settled with.

"How so?"

"it's a long story"

"Well we still have forty minutes, and you don't seem to want to talk about anything else," She smiled again, showing her white perfectly straight teeth with a patronizing grin.

Despite how intimidating this woman was, perhaps she was right, perhaps she needed to tell someone. Someone who wasn't Steve Rogers and someone who was bound by the patient-therapist confidentiality agreement. Obviously she wouldn't reveal any details about being the winter soldier but she could tell her somethings. Just to get it off her chest, maybe she could help her understand it all. Understand why he left.

"He left me, only four nights ago," Charley quietly admitted. She hadn't told anyone, even her family who knew about Bucky's identify were left in the unknown, she'd been avoiding their calls ever since the store incident and were probably wondering if she was okay and once again questioning her life choices.

"Did he break up with you?"

"Not exactly," She paused, "He was quite a dangerous person, had a lot of bad connections," She tried to fill in the gaps, "told me he was leaving because he loved me. Whatever that means"

"Sounds like he was trying to protect you from something"

"Someone once told me that men always seem to think it's their responsibility to keep us women safe," She mimicked the words of Agent Peggy Carter, never having forgotten them. If only she'd known how true they were

Susan bowed her head, "it's probably true"

"I just don't know where he's gone or if he's safe"

"I'm guessing you loved him back?"

"Course I did," Charley teared up without meaning too. Luckily she pulled it back quickly and was able to shut down the tears before they could fall and she embarrassed herself.

"How long had you been together?"

"A year. We met last August"

"How did you meet?" Charley looked up, regretting spilling the information about Bucky instantly not realizing the hounding questions that would be asked.

"over pizza," She couldn't help but smile at the distant memory, "I gave him some because he looked hungry"

"That's sweet," Susan smiled, "What are you going to do now?"

"I have no idea…" Charley thought about it. She had no idea. It was like she had transported herself to 12 months ago when she was alone and depressed with no friends, her boss hating her and on the literal edge of moving back to England for a source of comfort. Now that Bucky was gone she had nothing holding her here, except for the hope that he came back, what if she moved away and he came back and she was gone? With pressure to answer to quickly said, "I might go back to England, I'm sure my parents would love to have me back, I can't really afford to keep my apartment anymore anyway. It's about time I moved back"

"What about this guy?"

"I don't know. I've tried ringing him, but he left his phone at mine. What's the point in waiting for him when I know he has no intention of coming back," it was the bitter truth.

"If you want to know my opinion," Charley looked up hopefully. Right now she needed someone's help to guide her on what to do next. She'd debating selling her apartment so she could use the money to go looking for Bucky but she doubted she would have much luck. The Avengers had been looking for him since last year and had been unsuccessful and if they with their recourses couldn't do it, how would she?, "I think it would be healthy for you to go back to England. Even if it's only for a week or two as a holiday. Getting away from a situation to see it from a fresh perspective may be just what you need"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

She fiddled with her plane ticket to England for tomorrow. She still had to hand her notice into work and call her parents about her arrival. Although she thought she might keep that bit a surprise and just arrive at their door. It would certainly be interesting to see their reaction. The only problem was getting from the airport back to her house. She'd just call a taxi, she supposed.

The tickets had been purchased straight after her therapist meeting who had convinced her it would be the best choice. She couldn't wait around anymore, depressed, waiting for Bucky to return knowing full well he had no intention of coming back. There was no point in waiting around.

"We're going home Mabel, bet you miss mum and dad," she gently stroked Mabel's head. She had finally forgiven her for the temper tantrum Charley had had the day Bucky had left after days of rejecting her affection, "It's time I get my life in order I think. Maybe I can join a filming agency as a runner or something, do you think that's possible?"

Obviously Mabel didn't answer, but remained an emotionless log on her lap.

"Thanks for the input."

A banging on her door made her look up. She quickly grabbed a hoodie to cover up her cupcake pyjamas underneath to save her the embarrassment of still being in her pyjamas at three in the afternoon. The banging got more aggressive and she had to quickly shove the hoodie over her head and shoved her plane tickets into the pockets. Alerted, Charley grabbed Mabel and sneaked over to the peep hole. She couldn't see much but what she did see was enough to make her silently yelp.

Armed men were standing there, they looked like they were wearing uniforms but she couldn't be sure as she quickly pulled away from the door. The word; _Hydra_ skipped through her head as, in a panic, she ran and grabbed her cracked phone and searched through the cupboards and draws quickly to find the paper she'd screwed up with Steve's number on it. She had intended to throw it away but kept it for situations such as these.

The banging continued. With shaky hands she managed to find the number and quickly dialled it in, slamming the numbers into her phone.

"Open the door ma'am or we'll have to force it open. We know you're in there"

"Shit. Shit. Shit," Charley cursed, finally clicking the 'call' button on her phone. Her stomach was racing and head spinning for him to pick up the phone. She'd never been so desperate for someone to answer their damn phone, "Come on hurry up-"

"Hello, who's this?"

"Steve? Steve is that you?"

"Uh- Yeah, do you mind me asking who this is?"

"I'm- I'm…" the banging became more intense as she tried to think, "Bucky's girlfriend"

"What?"

"He left me your number I don't know what to do. I think Hydra are at my door," She let out, as she heard someone now pushing their shoulder up against the door in the attempt to get it open. It wasn't a very strong door and one or two more strong pushes would definitely break it off it's hinges.

"What do you mean Bucky's girlfriend?"

"I'll explain later just help I'm at- AHHHH!" The door burst open and Charley dropped the phone in a panic and placed Mabel on the counter, grabbing the fry pan on the side and peering around the kitchen door where she could see three policemen in her living room surveying the area. One was on the floor where he had pushed the door open, rubbing his now sore shoulder.

"Miss Weller please reveal your location or I may be forced to shoot. We don't believe you are dangerous but we have information to presume you to be so"

They would find her eventually, she reasoned as she opened the door. Logically this was the best thing to do, "I'm here." She rose her hands up into the air in defence as three guns were quickly pointed towards her. At least they weren't hydra; she thought as positively as she could, which meant her phone call with Steve was for nothing, "What are you doing in my apartment?"

"Take a seat," The policeman ordered as a fourth officer came out of her bedroom whispering into his walkie talkie that was pinned onto his jacket, "Stand down, the winter soldier isn't here"

"What the hell…" Charley breathed out as she did as she was told and sat down. Colour draining from her cheeks as the police officer pulled out a small plastic bag, inside she instantly recognized her old phone, "That's my phone! How did you-"

"We picked this up a day or so ago from a thief whose been dealt with now." It was quite a different situation from the last time she had been with a police officer only five days ago where she had been treated with care, handed a shock blanket and a glass of water, now they seemed to be interrogating her.

"My background?" Charley realized allowed. It had been of her and Bucky. The person who stole it from her had obviously not wiped it from the screen and being the most famous assassin of the 20th _and_ 21st century the police would recognize him in an instance, "I can explain"

"We're arresting you on the charges of associating with a known terrorist," her eyes widened as the policeman pulled out a pair of handcuffs. By a police officer behind her he gently held onto her shoulders and pulled her upwards.

She couldn't go to jail. She was leaving for England tomorrow. She was going to get her life back on track. Panicking she remembered all the moves Bucky had taught her. There was only three of them, all of them had guns but they were all now in their holsters. If she could shock them just enough so she could get away, She could spend the night at the abandoned gym her and Bucky used to train in. Her cat was right beside her so quick enough to grab.

As she formulated the plan in her head, adrenaline pumped through her and just before the handcuffs were clasped around her, sealing her fate she kicked out, kneeing the policeman in the shins, whilst head butting the one behind her. Blinding her dizzy. The other two police officers tried to dive for her but she managed to dodge them and reach down for her cat and tucking her under her arm.

"Back-up, we need back-up," she heard the police officer shout through his walkie talkie in a pained voice. A shot ricocheted over her head as she quickly ducked to miss it, bits of wood flying everywhere. She managed to get around the corner of her apartment and into the hallway. She had no shoes on and the floor slammed painfully into her feet with each step. Practically flying down the stairs, she considered her next move.

How many back-up police were there? Would she be able to hide until they started looking elsewhere? She had no idea how these operations worked.

She turned behind her to see if they were following her but the hallway was empty and she was so close to the exit, if only she could get to her car or something.

She slammed into something hard, fast. Doubling back she clutched her head, pulling her cat closer and preparing to attack. She raised her hand in defence position but saw the person in front of her was none other than Steve Rogers, trailing behind him was Sam Wilson.

"Oh my god. You came," Charley gulped, fresh tears appearing in her eyes as relief settled in. She'd be alright now… wouldn't she?"

"You're that girl from the other day, over the video conversation," Steve realized, eyeing her face as if checking she really was that girl.

"Yeah that's me…" She guiltily admitted.

"You're that girl from the park?" Sam piped up from behind Steve.

"You know her?" Steve turned around.

"Yeah, she's that girl I flirted with and then got suspicious of because of that dude she was with."

"That was _her_?" Steve raised his eyebrows.

"I deserve some kind of detective award, man," Sam grinned at that. She didn't think it was the time of place for self congratulations.

"You better start talking now," Steve insisted but Charley found she was lost for words for once in her life as the sound of running footsteps were echoing behind her.

"Put your hands up or we'll shoot," A police officer yelled at her, she heard the click off his gun to take it off safety. Frozen in place, she slowly turned around and raised her hands, retreating back a step or two so she was directly in front of Steve, her back knocking into his chest. She had no idea what else to do. The officer before her had a bloody nose and looked angry enough to shoot her. She couldn't run now after Steve had come all this way. The police officer moved forward-

"Wait. There's been a misunderstanding here," Steve stepped in front of her, "Sir, I'm Captain Steve Rogers a member of the avengers initiative. We'll take it from here"

"Captain America?" The officer seemed stunned but faltered as he dropped his gun, suddenly memorized by the sight of an apparent here of his, "Is that really you?"

"Yeah. This lady is in our care now and I'd appreciate it if you spread the message"

"Of course sir"," The officer smiled, lowering his gun back into his holster, "You know my grandfather worked in the military alongside you in the war"

"And a hero I'm sure he is," Steve nodded with proudness, "I hope you can take care of everything here? "

"Of course Sir."

"Glad to hear it," Steve gave a single nod. He waited until the police officer had moved passed them, talking through his radio before unexpectedly turned around and glared at Charley, "You better start talking."

"I will"

Sam grabbed her shoulder and guided her out of the apartment building. She saw load of cops in their cars looking confused, stationed at random locations. Looking at it now she was foolish to think she could get away. There were at least five police cars with two police officers in each car _just_ on this road.

"This is our car," Sam said, pointing at a lavish metallic black car, she was sure it was a model of Tony Stark as she couldn't imagine Steve choosing to ride in anything this flashy.

"How did you get here so quick? I didn't even have time to give you my location?"

"We were in Washington luckily and we asked Tony to give us the coordinates to your address after he tracked your phone call," Steve replied, "We wouldn't have got here otherwise"

"Thank-god you did," she mumbled breathlessly

Sam drove as she sat in the back. It was completely silent and she tried to ignore Steve staring at her through the windscreen mirror curiously. It was halfway through the journey before Steve finally piped up.

"You might as well start explaining things now," Steve asked, turning around in his chair to face her, "Let's start with your name"

"Charlotte Weller, most people call me Charley though," She spoke fast, overwhelmed with guilt. She had had so many opportunities to speak to the people before her and never said a word; all Steve had been doing was looking for his best friend. Maybe together they could find him.

"How do you know Bucky? Over the phone you said you were his girlfriend, no offence but how can that be true?"

"It's not exactly true anymore, he left me, but we met over a year ago, the night after the helicarrier crash," she explained. Steve's eyes widened in response.

"That long ago!"

"And here we've been travelling across every state in America trying to find him and he's been cosy here with you," Sam piped up looking disapprovingly in the mirror at her making Charley shrink in her seat.

"Look, I'm sorry but it wasn't my place to tell anyone where he was. It was his choice to get in contact with you and he didn't want to," Charley argued feeling they seemed to be blaming her a little more than she thought she deserved. Fine, maybe she had had plenty of opportunities to let Steve know his best friend was safe, this was her third run in with him now.

"Why not? He saved me. Why would he pretend that it never happened?" Steve questioned, turning fully around in his chair to interrogate her.

"I didn't know him when you did, but that was seventy years ago and from what I can tell he is a completely different person. He told me he didn't want you looking at him like a monster," Steve's face fell looking horror-struck, "He was just scared"

"I just wanted to help him," he turned around in his seat and stared blankly at the ongoing road before him. There was barely any traffic on the roads and it was an easy drive to wherever they were going. Charley's thoughts led her to believe they were going to some secret base hidden behind some impossible but obvious place.

"I know." Charley smiled lightly, "I told him as much"

"So you've been there for him all this time?" Steve stared ahead of him.

"Yeah I guess"

"Thank you"

Her face blushed red before she had time to respond. She could see the corners of Steve's eyes flittering up to the wind screen mirror, carefully analysing her. She turned her head to look out of the window at the passing houses that flittered by, "you don't need to thank me."

Sam slowed the car down and pulled up outside a nice looking house. Charley peered out of the car window seeing that the blinds were pulled down along all the windows on the house.

"Where are we?"

"My house," Sam responded, opening the car door and pulling out house keys, "I'm rarely here anymore but it'll give us a place to lay low whilst the police figure out what the hell they're doing and come back again"

"Yeah… " Charley ducked her head guiltily as Steve opened the back door for her like the old fashioned gentleman he is, "I don't think I ever said thanks for that. Were you even allowed to do that?"

"Probably not," Steve shrugged, "I'll probably have to get Tony to pull some strings later"

"Sorry," she said shamefully, feeling guilty she had gotten them involved in such a drastic way. If only she'd called Steve sooner.

"Don't mention it."

They entered the house in silence. Inside Charley noticed the bare interior. It was obvious that Sam wasn't here much, things were half packed in boxes and the walls were empty.

"Do you want a glass of water or something?" Sam offered, "I would offer something stronger but my cupboards are empty"

Smacking her lips together making a clacking sound she realized just how dry her mouth was, "No, a glass of water would be good"

Sam disappeared into the kitchen. Steve set up place on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees in deep thought. Unsure of what to do, Charley took a seat opposite him waiting for the uncomfortable silence to end.

"What do you want to discuss?"

Steve looked up, surprised she'd broken the tense silence on her own accord, "I don't know. I wasn't exactly expecting a distressed phone call from Bucky's supposed girlfriend this morning. At the moment I'm just trying to take it all in"

Slowly nodding Sam reappeared with three glasses of water in his hand, he passed one along to Charley who took a large gulp instantly, making things much more awkward when the silence was interrupted by her slurping at the water.

"So, I'm confused. How do you just end up being the winder soldier's girl? Are you some English spy, an ex-assassin?" Sam pondered. Charley stared confused at him, did she give off a spy vibe. If so, she'd take that as a compliment. She looked down at herself wearing sweatpants and an overly large hoodie and cupcake pyjamas, realizing… no she did not give off that vibe _at all_.

"No. I work in a clothing store"

"You seemed to be able to handle yourself pretty well back at your apartment. Wasn't there three fully trained police officers in your room?" Sam narrowed his eyes.

"Bucky's been training me a bit and it was more the adrenaline today," she passed it off, having no idea what she had been able to take those men down. She doubted she would have got far if Steve and Sam hadn't shown up when they did.

"How _did_ you meet then?" Steve asked

"Well, I had taken the late shift, at the time I had no internet at home so was using the store wifi and I was just sitting in the office finding out what had happened with the helicarrier crash…" She wasn't really sure if this amount of detail was necessary but wanted to include as much as possible to Steve who had been waiting to hear news about his best friend for a whole year now. She waited for validation to continue when Steve bowed his head, "… which is why I stayed later than necessary. I ordered pizza for myself when I heard rustling on the shop floor. The first thing I saw was his arm and the fact that he was really wet. I don't know why, I never asked"

"Day after the helicarrier crash?"

"That night, yes"

"He'd pulled me from the river"

"Oh"

"Anyway, continue…"

"I got spooked at first and was about to call the police but then I saw all he wanted was a fresh pair of clothes and I don't know, I just wanted to help him, so I gave them to him for free and then offered him some pizza. I don't think he really trusted me at first, he wouldn't eat the pizza until I promised him it wasn't poisoned. After that he came back mostly every other day and I'd buy us food until I offered him a place to stay at mine" She couldn't stop talking now. It was nice, telling someone about Bucky. The only other people who knew were her parents and she tried to avoid talking about Bucky with them as much as possible knowing they heavily disapproved.

By the time she got to the end of her story it was dark. No one had moved to turn the lights on whilst she explained and the room had been engulfed into darkness slowly.

"How much does he remember?"

"A lot," Charley was glad to say, not wanting to crush Steve's hope as much as it had been already over the past year, "There's still gaps in his memory but he used to talk about you a lot, whenever something would remind him of you he'd say"

"What'd he tell you?" there was an air of envy in his voice as he asked her.

"He remembers how you met on the school yard, how you defended some girl and then you got beat up in the process and it was Bucky that saved you. He remembers his sister and how you, him and her used to go dancing," At that his eyes lit up and he smiled fondly.

"I remember that too. I never wanted to go and neither did Bucky because his nights were always ruined because some guy got a bit too touchy feely with his Becca. But she always managed to convince him to go"

Steve stared off into the distance, caught up in the memory. It was easier than Charley thought it would be to talk to Steve about Bucky. She had been worried that Steve's imagine of what Bucky had been like in the past would be tainted by the different man he was now but after their conversation she realized just how far Bucky had come.

"Do you have any idea of where he went?" Steve asked finally. She had been waiting for this question all evening.

"No idea and there's no point looking, he's ran off before and I only found him because he decided to come back," Charley frowned, shoving her hands into her hoodie pockets and she felt the sides of her plane tickets cutting into her hand. With one swift movement of her hand she managed to complete a full rip of the ticket down the centre, "He won't be found unless he wants to be found, but I'll help as much as I can"

 **A/N sorry I realized I never replied to the reviews on chapter 24. I'm really sorry, I completely forgot. This'll be my last update until Christmas so have a Merry Christmas everyone!**

 **XxNimith531xX: thank you so much for the review. I'm sorry I'm a lousy updater (once a month :/) but I promise I'll always update, this story will never be abandoned :D Merry Christmas!**

 **Artemis7448: haha, Bucky is an idiot. They'll be back together soon enough don't worry about it. Makes time for Steve/Charley bromance. Lol. Merry Christmas and thank you so much for the review, it means the world :D**

 **Marina2351: aw you're too sweet. Sorry for taking so long to update and thank you so much for your review, always lovely to hear people compliment your writing, glad you're enjoying it. Merry Christmas!**

 **Becca: aw thank you so much. Sorry for the last heart wrenching chapter (this one wasn't exactly sunshine and daisies either lol. Sorry about that) I hope I'm portraying Steve and Sam just right, they're big aspects of the rest of the story.**

 **.2016: Thank you so much for the review. Merry Christmas my friend!**

 **AlyBaly1: thank you so so much for your review, sorry this chapter took so long I just hope it's good. Merry Christmas!**

 **KnightOwl247: haha, sorry about that. Thanks for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter! Merry Christmas!**

 **Sergentjamesbarnes: you weakling. You were too easy to break :P**

 **Lara Barnes: so sorry for the heart wrenching last chapter. They won't be apart… for too long :/ (no promises there :P) lol. Thank so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter. Have a very Merry Christmas!**


	27. Hospital Food

**Chapter 27**

Charley munched away on some digestive biscuits, having no business watching Steve and Sam do all the work when she had nothing to offer. They had maps sprawled out in front of them. Each one filled with red markers, crossing points off or connecting points, all in aid of searching for Bucky. They had notes upon notes of analytical detail describing every possible interaction they had in hopes of finding him. So far all Charley had to offer were biscuits (chocolate covered, which she thought improved her importance a tad) and his cell phone which was half cracked and no use. She was in way over her head if she thought she could possibly help them.

"And he didn't mention anything before he left?" Steve looked up at Charley from the sprawl of notes, catching her doubling up on double chocolate chip cookies as she stacked two on top of one another.

She quickly gulped, "he never told me anything. I'm sorry"

"Don't be. I'm just trying to rule out areas that he wouldn't go," Steve said not taking his eyes off of his notes.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Charley slowly sneaked out from the shadows, sliding off the counter she was sitting on and finally joined them, peering over Sam's shoulder at his notes. She noticed then he was half focused on Bucky related stuff, whilst half filling in forms for the avengers. Her interest spiking she bent over further to get a better look at it.

He noticed her presence and cocked his head up at her, raising an eyebrow, "sorry Chizzle, secret stuff. Probably shouldn't let you look." He moved to put the papers down whilst Charley scowled at his newly found nickname for her. He'd been using it for the past day as if saying 'Charley' was too much of an effort for him.

"It's alright, Sam," Steve inputted, "you don't have to hide anything from her, whose she gonna tell anyway"

"I don't know whether to be insulted or grateful," Charley rolled her eyes, propping up a chair in front of them. Sam scowled and pulled the papers out again, "It's alright, I don't really care I'm just here for Bucky. How long have you been looking for him?"

"longer than we'd planned," Sam resented.

"Just over a year, ever since SHIELD ended," explained Steve.

"Jesus, and you had no clue he was here all this time with me?"

"Not until Sam saw you at the park"

"Oh yeah… that," Charley blushed recalling her embarrassing and clearly obvious stumbling as she tried to get as far away as possible from the winged superhero in the park, "I was terrible. I gave the game away, didn't I"

Sam grinned, "Nah, Bucky was playing with his glove. I saw his arm, but your lying skills could be brushed up on a bit"

"Do you think he'd stay in America?" Steve remained concentrated on their mission and Sam quickly shook his head, "Yeah, I suppose. He'd want to remain low where people aren't searching for him. I just can't think where and even if we do find out what country he's in, we've still got to track him down"

"This man is crazily good at not wanting to be found"

Charley sighed, realizing they had reached a pretty permanent dead end in their search. Knowing she hadn't helped in the slightest, way out of her elements, she looked up at the clock and saw it was striking 11. Half knowing she had work tomorrow at 9 and half wanting to leave, not wanting to waste their time any longer she began moving towards the door.

"I better go chaps," she sluing her rucksack (mostly full of food) over her back, "work tomorrow"

"Yeah," Steve sighed tiredly looking up at the clock, he looked as if he had aged ten years in stress from the past day of reaching dead ends, "It's getting late."

He packed away his paper, having to have Sam's help to fold the large map that spread across the table, quickly chucking it in his gym bag that she suspected he used as it didn't look suspicious. Whilst he did this she said a quick farewell to Sam.

"See you around Chizzle"

"I hate bloody nicknames," She grumbled to herself but despite the resentment she felt towards nicknames, she couldn't stop herself from smiling at it. She had yet meet a friend in America who she'd been close enough to give a nickname too… well except Bucky but that was completely different. Deciding to play along she added, "Bye bird-man, don't flap your wings too hard"

"ha-ha. The bird jokes, very original," Sam's face fell before he turned to Steve, "Has she been talking to Tony?"

Steve chuckled whilst shrugging his coat on, "now that would be an interesting interaction"

"Are you leaving too?" Charley frowned as she pulled on her boots. She thought Steve had been sleeping at Sam's house for the time being to save money on hotels, but unless he was very cold and needed a coat to warm him up, he was definitely heading out.

"I'm taking you home," Steve smiled but there was something about his stare that was warning her not to argue. Despite seeing this she opened her mouth to respond. She was old enough and grown up enough to look after herself – but Steve cut her swiftly off, "It's dark out there and I can't have you walking home all on your own"

"I wasn't going to walk… I was going to _quick_ walk," she whispered more to herself but Steve heard and he let out an earthy laugh.

"Nice try but I'm taking you home – Sam, can I borrow the car?" Steve asked already opening the door as if he knew the answer, Sam gave a nod and Steve left leaving Charley staring out at him unsure of what to do. On one hand it'd be nice to not walk (at the present time she couldn't afford to pay out anymore on fuel so had to resort to walking or catching the bus and train everywhere)

"You really don't have to do this, Steve," She argued, following him out as he unlocked the lush looking Tony Stark model car which she been driven in the first time she came to Sam's house. Steve looked out of place, handling the wheel as it seemed much too flashy for Captain America to own, "I can get home on my own."

"Hydra's still out there and besides," he paused, thinking about his choice of words carefully, "The only contact I've had with my best friend in seventy years is through a girl he loves who gave me the message to look after you. I'm not going to let him down"

She sent him a small smile, "that's really sweet Steve but I'll be fine. It's not the 1940's anymore. Women can travel home on their own"

He glowered at her, "I know that but I'd feel better sleeping tonight knowing you got home safe"

She stared at the car debating her choices. The walk was quite far, half an hour at shortest, and it was dark and cold. She'd only brought a small jacket and her hands were already ice cubes and with each step she took outside Sam's front lawn she was limping from the icy ground beneath her. Besides, she really did want to travel in the fancy car one more time.

"Only this once," She glared, wagging a finger at him warningly, "and I'm only doing it today because I'm cold"

"Sure," Steve rolled his eyes, sliding into the car with difficulty as the car was a sports car model so was much smaller on the inside, not large enough to fit Steve's enormous form.

Half way through the drive Steve plugged in his ipod into the car. The ipod itself looked like it was one of the first ever models and was completely outdated. She had to sniffle in a chuckle as the only person she knew who still owned one of them was her grandfather and even he was considering upgrading. 1940's music began to play. It was nice, "Sorry this is the only music I've got," the soft angelic tune of a woman singing began to fade in, "I just calms me down."

She didn't mind, always having been a fan of 1940's music. It was pretty compared to some of the crap they got today. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the car seat, letting the tune flow through her half wondering why Steve would need to resort to music to calm him down when he had a whole superhero team to fall back on but remembered he was a soldier as much as Bucky was and the scars of war were still with him. Perhaps she should have tried getting Bucky to listen to some classic 1940's tunes. It might have brought a few good memories back from the days he used to go out dancing.

Her thoughts turned to the absent winter soldier. The streets were getting dark now and she wondered if he even had a bed to sleep on, or if he was in another country, was he waking up to another gloomy day.

"I never realised you were looking for him this dedicatedly. I thought with the avengers you were more focused on that," she steered the topic towards her thoughts, absently scratching at her jeans feeling awkward bringing him up knowing it was a soft spot for the both of them.

"I was. I mean me and Sam would check out leads but since the whole Ultron deal, I realised there was more to life than just fighting the next bad guy"

"Good way of thinking"

"Bucky used to say the same," Steve stared off at the road, luckily it was empty for she realized he wasn't paying much attention to it, lost in memories, "…used too anyway"

"I think he's seen too much horror in his life to think that way anymore," She replied sadly.

"He found you though," Steve glanced at her.

She gave a shaky laugh that didn't quite reach her eyes, "yeah and he gave that one up easily"

"You know that was to protect you right?"

"Yeah I guess," She shrugged, "Doesn't make sense though. Why leave when you know the person you love is in danger?"

Charley thought Steve had no answer for her as he remained unsettlingly quiet, keeping his concentration focused on the empty, deserted road, but she gave credit to him when he finally attempted at offering her advice, "I think you just gotta see it from his point of view. He probably blames himself for you being targeted"

"For someone who's not seen him for seventy years you seem to know him well," Charley noted smirking when Steve grinned.

"I guess I- GET DOWN!" Steve's hand grabbed her arm, yanking her down as he twisted the wheel round. In her rush to get down she banged her head on the dashboard but she ignored the dizzy feeling hearing the panic in Steve's voice as she quickly ducked her head under her hands.

Something hard collided into her, the car jolted with a great force. Glass smashed everywhere. The roof dented in. Steve had abandoned control over the wheel and had instead launched himself over Charley's body taking most of the blow from her.

He heaved, bloody cuts marking his face and arms.

"You alright?"

"What the fuck just happened?" Charley cried, her eyes exploding wide as she managed to get a shot of the cracked window, where one tap would surly make it fall apart. She was pretty sure the car had just rolled over and she could smell gas and smoke. Not a good combination, "Hydra?" her automatic assumption was.

This panicked Steve as he glared ahead of him trying to see out the window but it was too misty and dark, all the street lights were glazed off for some reason.

"Do you have your shield with you?"

"It's in the back but I can't get to it without getting out," Steve replied in hushed tones.

"What are we going to do?"

Whoever had hit them wasn't done yet. Just as Steve went to move, the car was smashed into again with an even greater force. Charley slammed into Steve's chair like a ragged doll and had to hold onto her seat belt for dear life, the material cutting into her hand. They rolled over again and Charley's head smashed into the roof, making the colours of the world disappear, her vision going foggy as she tried to keep a clear focus on what was happening around her.

"St-steve? You still there?"

"Stay here," he groaned from next to her. She heard the shuffling of glass and the rough sound of a metal door being forced open.

"Stev-ve… don't go. I can't bloody see anything," she whispered into nothing. She was sure she was looking around and that her eyes were open but no vision came to her as she was fading in and out of consciousness. Blurrily she could make out the image of her leg, it was bent at a weird angle (probably from the second crash). She blinked at it a few times and slowly her vision came back.

Her leg was trapped under the driver seat that had come loose from the flip. She wiggled about a bit and managed to set herself free. Smelling the district fume of gas she caught sight of the flickering of flames, licking upwards.

Eyes wide, she swiftly pulled at her seat belt, unbuckling it loose. Head burning she focused on making every muscle move all at once. The quickest she could in the rough state she was in, the smell becoming thicker.

"Shit," She cried, shuffling outwards towards the smashed window, using her seat as a crutch to lean on, "shit, shit, shit"

Her back scrapping across the glassy floor she managed to catch sight of pavement and crawled across it, out of the flipped cars window. Her heart did a double take when she saw the flames rising around the car, the engine catching the worst of the deal. With every ounce of energy she had left within her she pushed up from her back leg, forcing herself on her feet, prepared to find Steve and get the hell out of here. But she wasn't fortunate enough.

She screamed as something yanked at her hair, dragging her backwards a pace away from the car. In the haste she saw Steve taking on four men, each had guns and Steve was doing impressive flips and kicks in order to avoid them. She was sure if he hadn't just been hit by a car he'd have been moving even faster.

Realizing she was going to receive no help from Steve she elbowed backwards, winding the Hydra agent who had grabbed her. She took his opportunity to free herself, spinning around and kneeing upwards. The hydra agent blocked her leg just in time but wasn't smooth enough to grab it so she tried again. This time going for a successful punch to the throat. His hands clouded his neck, suddenly chocking as he took a step backwards trying to recover.

Knowing she'd got the advantage. She kicked out landing it to his stomach whilst leaning down for his gun at his side but missed and only ended up tripping over her own feet.

Trying to stand on her own two feet she took two seconds to steady herself before fully attacking the hydra agent. Sweeping behind him and getting him in an arm lock. The one she had especially liked to use on Bucky as she was so good at it he congratulated her afterwards… which often meant a few good kisses.

"I am sick and tired of you arseholes," She screamed finally letting go. Before she could deliver the final punch to end their fight and start helping Steve, a great explosion spoiled the air. Closest to it, Charley and the hydra agent flew backwards.

She hit the pavement with a hard crack, as something ripped through her leg. In response, she screamed out in agony, her hands darting down to her leg where an agonizing string erupted from. Scared to look at the damage, she dared a peak down seeing a large bit of metal pointing out of her leg.

"Ahhh," Charley cried, a pool of blood stained her jeans. Suddenly panicked realizing she had no more defence and was half a street away from Steve she began looking out for Hydra agent approaching and almost screamed when another face entered her vision.

The winter soldier came charging towards her angrily. Unsure of what to do, she let out a gasp when he ran past her, punching an approaching hydra agent down cold with one swift hit to the jaw from his metal arm. When he was done he spun around and faced Charley, running and crouching to her level.

With blurry eyes she managed to catch sight of his eyes. Battling to stay awake was harder than expected when just having the most unexpected fright of her life in the last five minutes. Not sure how much more chaotic this could get, Bucky brushed a hand over her cheek.

"Hey doll face," he gave her a soft smile, but it swiftly fell changing to one of concern, his eyes cast down to her leg, momentarily his eyes glazed over it, "let's get you out of here then"

"You're here?" Charley whispered. He was so close, she would kiss him now if it wasn't for the time and the moment.

"Course I am, didn't think I'd leave you completely?"

"You disappeared. What else was I going to think?" she glared and was glad to see he had the decency to look guilty.

"You've got to get to a hospital," Bucky swiftly moved over the subject, doing a quick scan of the area for Steve who was still battling off Hydra agents.

"Can you walk at all?"

"Do you think!"

"Take that as a no," Bucky smirked and suddenly she was swooped off of her feet. Bucky cocooned her to his chest, as he lifted her into his arms, careful not to touch her injury, "let's get you out of here"

"But Steve-?"

"Can look after himself," Bucky replied quickly, not bothering to glance back at the struggling Steve. He was certainly winning as a line of bodies was collapsed around him but even from her far distance Charley could still see a mix of sweat and dirt manically dripping from his forehead.

She stayed close to Bucky's chest; jolting up and down with each step he took. The longer she was with him the easier it was to stay conscious.

"Here," Bucky paused, placing her back down on the floor up against a street lamp for her to lean up against. Despite it only being one leg that was injured the other leg felt like it was going to fall off from exhaustion as she had to put all her weight on that leg to save herself the pain.

She examined her surroundings. It was a bare urban street. Regular houses lined the streets with plenty of cars cluttering the roads. The street lights were still on but Bucky opted for a car that wasn't bathed in light and carefully and skilfully managed to unlock the car without the need of a key or smashing the window. She didn't complain as it meant she could finally sit down.

Bucky rushed over to give Charley a lending hand towards the car, seating her in the passenger seat. Smoothly Bucky joined her and was quick to hotwire the car and start the engine. The car sprang to life.

She didn't comment despite the unrestrained thought at the back of her head telling her that this was wrong. She looked in the back of the car and saw a baby seat. A family would wake up tomorrow having had their car stolen with no reason behind it.

"Are you going to bring this car back?"

"Sure," Bucky replied not sparing a glance at her and she knew he had no intention. Not caring to argue as the splitting pain in her leg became much worse. She bit her lip to stop the inescapable whimper that she would let out.

"Should I be keeping this metal inside me?"

"Probably not," Bucky said unknowingly, "I'm not medically trained if I'm honest, I don't want to touch it just in case I'm wrong"

"Where are we going?"

"A hospital"

"Are you coming in with me?"

"Only to the reception"

"Are you going to leave after that?"

Silence. Bucky hadn't taken his eyes off of the road since they'd gotten into the car. Which was probably a good thing since the last car she got into they crashed.

Knowing he had no intention of answering and feeling like she already knew the answer she changed subject to diffuse whatever tension was beginning to arise, "Why are you still here?"

"Rounding up hydra agents mostly, trying to keep them away from you and Steve."

"Where have you been staying?"

"I've been going from building to building, anything that looks empty,"

"Right…" Charley struggled to keep her silent thoughts to herself and if she knew that criticizing him for his lifestyle would make a difference to his decision, then she would. But, the silence got too much to bear and she couldn't keep shut, "I've been worried about you, you know?"

"Probably not as much as I've been worrying about you"

"Don't give me that, Buck," Charley growled in frustration, "You can't just turn this around. You've known where I've been this past two weeks. With Steve, looking for you. _I've_ had absolutely no idea. If you had died, I wouldn't even know!"

"Charley-"

"Just stay," She turned to pleading, "please"

"I can't"

"Meet Steve-"

"I can't!"

"Be brave for five minutes, Bucky, and stop running away. That is all I'm asking!" Charley screamed in frustration. Tears pooling up in her eyes as she had no idea how to get him to understand, "Steve loves you, he's dedicated his entire year to finding you. He's not scared of you, and you shouldn't be of him!"

"We're here." Bucky said shortly, pulling up to a dropping off zone in the hospital. He pulled his cap out from the inside of his pocket, pulling it over his head, shielding his eyes and face. He opened the door and ran around to the passenger side to help Charley out who stubbornly had her arms crossed over.

"I'm not moving," she said crossly as soon as the door was open. From the corner of her eye she saw Bucky glare at her.

"You're going to bleed out…" Bucky said sternly.

"Yeah I am unless you talk to me."

It was true when they said her stubbornness was going to kill her one day.

"Charley, you know why I can't face Steve," Bucky begged, resting a hand on her shoulder, "I want nothing more than to see him and for it to be how it used to be. But it isn't. I'm always going to be a criminal. You think as soon as I meet Steve they're just going to forgive all my crimes"

"You weren't accountable for your crimes. They might give lee-way"

"That's some optimistic thinking from you," Bucky smiled sadly, "but you know that's not true and you and Steve deserve better than me"

"Shut up," She glared, eyes glazed with tears, "What about what I _want_?"

"Life's not that fair I'm afraid, doll," Bucky smoothed out a tear falling down her cheek.

Darkly, she glared at him, the anger she had felt for weeks bubbling up within her. This was the reason her apartment was trashed, not because of the Hydra agent and Bucky's fight but because she had been so angry with him for leaving she had to break something. Right now she wouldn't mind punching Bucky if it would only knock a few brain cells into him.

Instead of punching him she gave him the silent treatment and crossed her arms tightly, refusing to meet his eye contact like a petulant child.

"Oh you're just going to ignore me now?" Bucky raised his eyebrows. She turned her back on him further just to prove her point but she just got even more annoyed when Bucky chuckled from behind her, "You're ridiculous"

"And you're an arsehole" She mumbled.

"And you're beautiful," Bucky said truthfully. Her heart melted as he added, "And I love you"

Wanting to scream she span around, "and I love you too," she groaned in frustration, "What a bloody pair we make"

"Now come on, get up, they need to check that _bloody_ leg of yours," he said the 'bloody' in her over exaggerated English accent which caused a smile to light up on her face. She sounded nothing like that of course but it was still hilarious for him to try.

In fairness he had talked, and that was her bargain for moving. Knowing she had to keep to her end of the deal she accepted the hand he offered her and hopped from the car, landing ungracefully on the pavement, having to clutch onto Bucky's arm tightly to stop herself from falling. She'd forgotten how painful it was.

"Where's your phone?" Bucky asked as they slowly hobbled along the pavement, her arm linked through his metal one using him as her second leg.

"In my pocket," she pulled it from her pocket with a struggle and handing it to him, confused by his odd request. He unlocked her phone with ease, probably having seen her type the password out and remembering it, before texting someone with one hand, "what are you-"

"Steve," Bucky said, "He probably doesn't know where you've gone"

"Good idea"

They entered the hospital and Bucky called out for a doctor who rushed over with a wheel chair, she was transferred into the comfort of a wheelchair and whisked away. Expecting Bucky to still be beside her as they travelled along the corridor she had to quickly turn in the chair when she couldn't see him anywhere.

He was suddenly gone as quickly as he had come. The reception area was now completely bare of any winter soldier that may have entered.

"Do you know where my friend went?" She turned to the doctor guiding her who was getting increasingly irritated by her fidgeting in the chair looking for Bucky.

"No idea, sorry," she shrugged, "probably to the visitors centre, I'll look for him later if you'd like"

"No need," Charley replied bitterly, "He's probably gone"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

She stayed the whole night. The metal in her leg had been removed in time and now had a cast placed over the wound. Then, she was guided to a hospital room where she was instructed to keep her leg as still as possible.

The blinds were only half drawn leaving a lined, prison like light shining through from the street lamps right outside her hospital window. A particularly large spot of light hit exactly where her pillow was causing it to shine bright in her eyes. With it she couldn't sleep, even when she closed her eyes light spots appeared before her shut lids. With a leg that was incapable of moving she could hardly get up and close it herself, and she thought about calling a doctor in but didn't want to be a pain, especially where there were much worse conditions happening to people in the hospital right now. She didn't want to be a nuisance just for some silly little blind shutting.

Steve didn't visit until the morning. Apparently the hospital had a very strict policy on visiting hours where only close family are supposed to visit between 7pm and 7am.

He practically ran in at seven o'clock on the dot, out of breath (which was saying something for a super soldier) and collapsed down on the chair next to her bed, resting a hand over his face.

"Steve?" Charley peered over todays newspaper. Apparently they hadn't reported on the events of last night yet. Thankfully.

"Oh, you're awake," Steve smiled wearily, sitting up straight. When he moved his hand from his face Charley could clearly see the nasty bruises that covered the entirety of his face.

"I was sitting up when you opened the door," She observed, concerned for his wellbeing. Dark bags circled his eyes as he brushed a single hand down his face tiredly, "Did you not sleep much last night?" She couldn't see how he would have done. With being attacked by Hydra and finding that Bucky had been metres away from him, it was a lot to take in.

"Not a wink," Steve sighed and leant forward to engage in conversation, "Are you alright though?"

"Yeah I'm good. I mean apart from the leg thing," She joked. It was still pretty painful however, despite the many drugs she was on, "What happened after I left?" _After Bucky got me out of there._ She had almost said but was fearful to bring up his name in case he didn't want to talk about it.

"I handled most of it," Steve explained, "Good work with the fighting by the way"

"I learnt a few tricks," She shrugged it off. It really had been nothing, she'd ended up getting exploded in the process of it and would have been dead if it wasn't for Bucky.

"It was more than a few tricks from what I saw," Steve rolled his eyes at her modesty but continued regardless, "the police arrived soon after, I had to give a statement. S.H.I.E.L.D, or at least the equivalent of it today came, apparently there was an ex-hydra agent there, Agent Grant or something. They wanted to deal with it but he got away" he told her with a yawn as if he really wasn't interested.

"You probably shouldn't be telling me those types of details. Secrecy and shit," She corrected him but he shrugged in defence.

"Who else have I got to talk to?"

"I don't know, the rest of your superhero freak team," She laughed at his lack of thought or care. Captain America surely had much more far superior people than her to talk to about stuff like this to.

"I can't talk to half of them. Thor's back on Asgard, no one knows where Banner is and Tasha is focused on training the new avengers. Tony I'm lucky if I get a text back within three days"

"Sam?"

"He's not here though is he," Steve yawned again triggering Charley to mirror him. Steve leant his arms on the bed and bent his head down so it was touching the covers. For a moment she'd thought he'd literally fallen asleep at her feet and she had a half mind to kick her good foot at him to wake him but before she could do anything he peered his head up, his arms still lazily flopping over the bed.

"You know what I want to ask, right?"

"Well I wasn't going to say anything about him first," Charley admitted sheepishly.

"I only saw him for a second," Steve said sadly, "He was carrying you away. What happened?"

"He carried me away," Charley repeated his words exacly, "got me to a car and then drove me to a hospital. I was just as shocked as you"

Steve slowly nodded, because of his tiredness it was taking him much longer to process all her words, "So all this time we've been looking for him, he's been right here watching out for you"

"I guess so," She shrugged, "I'm sorry about leaving you by the way"

He brushed a hand over the matter, "don't worry about it. You were injured and I should have done my job and got you to safety first"

She couldn't resist rolling her eyes at his sincerity, "don't blame yourself. There were dozens of hydra agents there, you couldn't have dealt with them and got to me in time and I only got off with a broken leg." The problem with all her friends being superheroes was that they were so much capable than her and she came off looking pathetic and weak but she wouldn't accept that. It wasn't Steve's ' _job'_ to look after her and babysit her to make sure she doesn't fall and cut herself.

"I could have done more."

Her phone buzzed and she gave Steve an apologetic stare before answering it. She didn't bother looking at the number but pressed answer straight away, the only people who called her was either work, Bucky, her parents of annoying insurance companies trying to take her money (usually it was the latter, she loved to answer them and give them sarcastic answers)

"Hello, who's this?"

"Hi Charlotte, it's Aiden," came the uncharacteristically cheering voice of her supervisor from work, "heard about the accident"

"Yeah about that I don't know if I'll be able to go to work for a few days as-"

"That won't be a problem," Aiden replied slowly.

"Oh?" Charley let out; usually it took a lot more convincing from her part to get what she wanted when it came to work, even health and safety risks, "Really?" She didn't believe there wasn't a catch to this, she was just waiting for the penny to fall.

"Well…" The penny had been thrown into the air, "We've decided to let you go." Penny drops.

Charley let out a squawking sound as words suddenly were lost in her vocabulary.

"Look, Charlotte, it's no secret we don't like each other-"

"You can't fire me because of that!"

"We're not, but you're always late for work and the company has to put some money back so we've decided to let a few people go. You're not the only one"

"Who else then, huh?"

"Ella-"

"She's barmy, she never does her job. Of course you fired her. I at least put some work in!"

"But with your leg injury there just doesn't seem like any point keeping you on"

"You can't fire me because of an injury!" She screeched, probably waking Steve up from whatever sleep he had been planning as his head had been lolled to the side gently but he was now wide awake looking apprehensive and fearfully at Charley.

"I'm sorry but that's our decision"

"Go to hell. How am I meant to pay for these hospital bills and rent and food!" she reeled off all the things that were going to be hella expensive without the income.

"I'm sorry," was all Aiden had to say. She lightly growled and ripped the phone away from her ear, slamming the 'end call button' as hard as she could hoping he would attain physical damage from the force she put in to end the call. When the beeping sound came, successfully ending the call she slammed the phone down onto the bed and just so happened to catch her broken leg. In a hurry she let out a yelp and reached down to clutch it, "Fuck that hurt!"

"Who was that?" Steve approached her cautiously, looking slightly scared he would get hit.

"My boss, or ex-boss I guess. He fired me," she snapped shortly, "Something about them cutting back and me being late and him not liking me and my injury. Sounded like he was coming up with crap on the spot!" as her sentence continued her words got louder, her heart beating triple fast from anger, "I don't know what I'm going to do. I have rent to pay next week and no income"

"Calm down," Steve said clearly, "We'll figure something out. Can't you get a new job?"

"Maybe but I don't have a lot of experience, apart from my job at Target and it took me ages to just get that job"

"You can stay with me and Sam"

"I can't do that to you"

"Sure you can," Steve shrugged uncaringly.

"No. I can't, you two will leave soon and Sam will probably want to sell the place, he's never here anyway. So no, I can't," She said, in any attempt to try and deflect the kindness that was Steve Rogers. He'd done too much for her already, let alone providing her a roof over her head. The simplest most basic component to life, something she felt she _should_ be able to provide for herself.

"Who says we're leaving any time soon," Steve said, "we're looking for Bucky remember"

"You still doing that? Even after last night?"

"You're not?" he asking frowning.

"I don't know," She gave a wistful sigh; "it was clear from last night, he didn't want to stay. If he doesn't want to be found, he won't be. For instance, he was in Washington all this time and here we were looking at different countries he might be. I just think we're in way over our heads if we think we can realistically find the winter soldier"

"What you're saying that we should wait until he comes and finds us?"

"Maybe? Yeah… I guess that is what I'm saying," she almost hated herself for saying so, as if she was abandoning Bucky when he needed her most but at the end of the day they were never going to find him and she couldn't just wait around for him to have some common sense and come home.

"What are you going to do then?"

She stared regretfully at her phone that was sprawled at her injured foot which was still throbbing, I guess I've got to find a new job"

Steve stretched up and rolled down his jeans that had scrunched up around his knees from his awkward laying, "The option to stay with us is always open"

"Thanks, Steve. I appreciate it"

"I spoke to your doctor, they said you can leave tomorrow" Steve assured her which brought a smile to her face. She hated staring endlessly at the sickly bare walls all day long. There was only so much flappy bird she could play on her phone before she got bored. Although she'd beaten her high score so that was a win, "Do you need me to bring you anything? Clothes? Colouring books? Crappy Hospital food?"

She didn't want to be a pain so she sharply shook her head and thanked him. He left shortly afterwards with a quick promise that he would pick her up tomorrow and take her home… and that he would feed her cat whilst she was stuck in the prison that was the hospital for the day.

 **A/N A lot happened this chapter and yes I'm aware that it'd be extremely unlikely that Grant would have been in a situation like this but I thought I'd throw a small Easter egg to AOS fans.**

 **PrincessGBRS: thanks so much for the review, hope this chappy lived up to expectations :D**

 **Becca: Thank you so much for the lovely review. Hydra came after her this chapter though, she couldn't get away that easy. Lol. You're on the right tracks, she will be going back to England soon but not after some excited avenger stuff in between :D thanks for letting me know I'm portraying them alright. Hope to see you soon too, thanks again! x**

 **emily88034: thanks for the review!**

 **KnightOwl247: Thank you so much!**

 **.: Thank you, glad you enjoyed my lovely :D**

 **artemis7448: sorry for the long update, I'm going as fast as I can thanks for your enthusiasm and patience. Love you lots! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too :D**


	28. Lunch with Captain America

**Chapter 29**

With one hand on the stair rail she heaved herself up with each step, giving a hiss each time she had to bend her leg but whenever she wobbled and had to fall back Steve (despite holding both her crutches and hospital bag) managed to offer her a helping hand.

"How much further is your one?" Steve asked as they reached the final floor of the building.

"Sorry, it's the one at the top," She frowned, "It's why it's so cheap. No one wants to climb all those stairs, it's a pain when you've got ten bags of shopping. They really need to install a lift"

Leaning against her door frame she awkwardly pulled out her house keys from her pocket, "The apartments a mess by the way. Sorry about that too"

"It's okay," Steve chuckled as she unlocked the door and followed her inside, welcoming him to her apartment that was once again a mess. It was like it went in a cycle, one day she managed to keep it spotless, the next it was dumping ground and she didn't quite know how it happened, "Back in the 40s I used to live with Bucky. _His_ was definitely worse"

"Why am I not surprised." She rolled her eyes. She had to clutch onto the sofa ledge as she leant down and cascaded her shoes across the floor. Steve passed her crutches back which she gladly took, leaning on them, feeling the heavy pressure release on the leg she'd been trying to stand on for the last hour. Just then her cat emerged from her bedroom, purring softly at the sight of Charley but didn't step any closer, eyeing Steve distrustfully, "Sorry. She doesn't like strangers"

"Don't worry about it."

"Thank you for bringing me home by the way, you don't need to feel like you need to though. I could have gotten a taxi"

"Yeah, and watch as a hydra agent _is_ the cab driver?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I thought the last time I was attacked by Hydra I was in a car with you?"

"Ouch."

"Yeah…" she smirked, although she was completely grateful he had come to pick her up. It was nice to know she could depend on someone for once and although she had her parents to fall back to, they were all the way in England and they didn't even know what had happened. She had yet to call her parents and them that she'd lost her job, boyfriend and almost her leg all in one night. _How proud they'd be,_ she thought bitterly cursing under her breath allowed which received a questionable look from Steve.

"Hey, do you know if there are any hotels nearby?"

She thought about it for a moment. There was a dodgy one just down the road but she thought Steve would take no interest in a place like that considering she heard a lot of drug deals went down there. Other than that, there were virtually none. The neighbourhood wasn't exactly a holiday destination.

"There's one. Not very nice," She shrugged, searching her brain for anymore, "any reason you're asking?"

"I might check into one for a few days," Steve said frowning as he looked down at his shoes to see he had accidently stepped on her mail. He leant down and picked them up, handing it to her with an apologetic stare.

"Why I thought you were staying at Sam's?" she half-heartedly replied, glancing down curiously at one of the letters he had passed to her. She recognized the writing from months back, when she'd received a letter of warning from her landlord.

"I am but Sam's planning on moving back to the Avengers base soon and I feel wrong staying in his house without him," Steve explained.

"Why aren't you going back with him?" She looked up from the letter, realizing whatever details the letter held in them, they could wait. This was clearly an important conversation which deserved her fullest attention, "to this top secret avengers base. Which I'm guessing you can't tell me the location of, even though I really want to know"

"Nope. Sorry, top secret," Steve grinned at her banterous humour, "and I'm going to stay with you for a little bit, at least until this hydra situation is all under control"

"Jesus, I'm not worth that," Charley rolled her eyes feeling Steve was being a little dramatic here; "You're a literal avenger where the world needs you. You're Captain America for crying out loud! You don't have to wait around and look after little insignificant me, even if you do feel some sort of obligation to. You don't have to"

"I know. I'm choosing too," Steve remedied, "I mean you could come stay at the avengers base if you wanted…"

"Really?" Charley looked up suddenly trying to see if he was being serious or not because if so he was offering her to stay and live with the rest of the infamous avengers. That was a big deal.

"Yeah of course," Steve nodded surely, "I know you'd be safe there"

She went to nod and agree but caught herself off guard. Her thoughts dwelling to a dangerous place.

If it was true that this Avenger base's location was secret (which she didn't doubt for a second) how would Bucky know where she was. It was a stupid thought. He had left her out of his own free will and clearly had no intention of going back. But he'd shown up last night when she needed him. Who's to say he wouldn't again.

Charley sucked in a breath and quickly shook her breath, "no I can't. I've got a life here"

Steve raised his eyebrows, "have you?"

"Oi!" Charley yelled from across the room, hearing the judgement in his tone, "My life… it's not that bad"

"All I'm saying is the only reason you have of staying is Bucky"

Childishly she crossed her arms, feeling the need to defend her point, "It's a damn good reason"

"Fair," Steve nodded along.

Trying to divert the subject away from Bucky she offered Steve to stay for lunch. The topic of food provided her the chance to talk about another one of her favourite subjects.

"So I can cook us a meal or we can have regular sandwiches?" Charley's stomach growled from the thought of food, "Does Captain America even eat regular food? Like, I don't know are you on a super strict diet?"

"I do eat regular food, it may surprise you," Steve grinned as Charley began slicing some bread open for them, "Although you might not believe that I once couldn't eat gluten without getting really sick"

"What?" She squeaked, almost dropping the knife she was cutting with, "No way"

"Super soldier serum solved pretty much everything," Steve crossed his arms and leant against the door way. She grabbed a few options of spreads from her cupboard and with difficulty held four jars in her hand all at once and presented them to Steve, "I'll just have butter thanks"

"So, what, after the serum you're never going to ever get dieses again? And you can eat anything without worrying about diet issues?" Charley looked him up and down. She couldn't deny he was really muscly. _Lucky for some_ , she frowned, feeling the green monster inside of her want to punch his perfect teeth. Damn him and his ability to get fit with absolutely no effort required.

He nodded as he began to feast on his sandwich once she was done spreading.

"It's weird sometimes. I still expect to get out of breath when I run too fast," Steve admitted.

"I don't think you deserve it," Charley shrugged with a sly smile, "it's not like you even did anything for those muscles. I've been working out for months and still nothing"

She looked up surprised when Steve gave a roaring snort, "Well I wouldn't encourage you to get injected with something you know nothing about, with only the knowledge that you'll get super fit afterwards"

"Yeah…they're called steroids," Charley shook her head, "Not a good plan."

 _~*It started with Pizza~*_

"Hi, I'm charlotte Weller. I've got an appointment here at two," Charley told the receptionist in her overly polite voice that made her sound like she was friends with the bloody queen. She was handed a signing in sheet which she quickly squiggled her name down before taking a seat . The receptionist offering her a drink of water, or other refreshments. After refusing she'd bombarded her with questions about how her day had gone. They were in the only two in the waiting room and Charley felt compelled to answer, but of course she couldn't say she'd had a nice lunch with Captain America. They'd send her straight to the loony bin. It was something she'd always hated about going to see her Therapist. Everyone was always a little _too_ nice (or maybe it was just Charley's introverted -self-getting irritated by mere social interactions).

Wanting to look busy so the receptionist would get the hint and get on with her work, she went to pull her phone from her pocket for a round of 'crossy road' but instead caught the corners of the letter she'd meant to open earlier but forgotten about.

She pulled it from her pocket, dread filling her stomach as she ripped it open and began to scan it word for word;

 _Dear Miss Weller_

 _I am writing to notify you that you have breached your rental agreement and are therefore evicted from the property. You have received no more than 3 warnings on separate occasions about rent payments which have not been upheld. This added with complaints from neighbours have left me no choice but to evict you from the property. We expect belongings and furniture to be removed from the property as of April 3_ _rd_ _._

Charley dropped the letter onto her lap. Feeling the blood race through her veins. The 3rd of April was only two days away. She must have received the letter before the car crash and now known about it. She tried to add up the maths in her head. She knew she was one payment behind but not three.

Sudden panic made her freeze. She had two days to move out of her apartment and find somewhere else and here she was wasting time with the therapist to talk about her feelings. She grabbed her bag and crutches and with difficulty, stood up, impulsively going to the door. The receptionist said something but in her haze of panic she didn't here.

"Charlotte Weller, sorry I took so long. Would you like to come in now?" Her hand was on the door and she'd opened it just a tad so that a gush of air swooshed at her feet. She should just leave now. She was about to be homeless for crying out loud, who cares about a stupid therapist session.

Charley swivelled around with the clit, clatter of her crutches meeting the ground. With the politest smile she could muster she said, "Sorry, something just came up."

"We can just have a quick session," her therapist replied sweetly. _Again with the niceness, "_ no more than ten minutes and you can tell me about this urgent thing"

Feeling that perhaps the therapist might be able to help, Charley nodded and let the door close shut again. Maybe she'd had a patient before who had lost their job and apartment all in one go. She could have some advice.

She followed her into the office. It was just as dull as Charley remembered it being. Although she'd spice somethings up on the walls by adding a few flower paintings alongside the large picture of a metal clad knight.

"Take a seat," her therapist gestured to the couch. Reluctantly she did as she was told, casting an eye to the clock on the wall that said four o'clock. At 4:10 she was out of there, "so last time we spoke you were having conflicting feelings about your complicated relationship with your ex and thoughts about returning home to England"

She was glad for the recap as she wasn't sure how much she'd told the therapist last time. It was like trying to remember an episode of a really shitty TV show and then when re-watching the 'previously on' you remembered exactly why you'd forgotten. Because it was so shit. The TV show in this instant was her life.

"Have you made any decisions?"

"Well considering I've just lost my apartment, it's probably the only option right now," she didn't mean to snap but annoyance bubbled within her, at herself and the therapist. She didn't even need these sessions. She was fine. The therapist frowned at her, questioning her to continue and explain. Feeling bad, Charley removed the sharpness from her tone as she said, "Got a letter this morning telling me I was evicted"

"What was the reason for evicting you?"

"I was behind on my payments. I didn't realize I was so behind," Charley looked down mournfully, "And I lost my job." Unconsciously she began to fiddle with her hands, ringing them in and out trying to calm herself down. She really had royally fucked up her life, "and Bucky…" she mumbled under her breath so the therapist wouldn't catch the name.

A heaviness fell onto her chest, like she couldn't breath and her lungs had suddenly been flooded with water. She took gulp of air but it didn't help relieve the pressure. It didn't help that the stupid therapist kept asking questions.

"Do you have any plans?"

Silently she shook her head, feeling too sick to open her mouth. The colour drained from her face as she temporarily turned deaf. She was screwed. She had no means to get a job? No one would take her, she had no good references and now that she'd been kicked out of her own home, she would be living on the streets. Perhaps she could live in the abandoned gym for a little bit. Perhaps if she was lucky, she might run into Bucky. He'd know what to do. She could call her parents. Go back home to England. _How proud they'd be._

But if she moved away she'd never see Bucky again.

She bit her lip, feeling them quiver but managed to keep it under control as she droned in on what the therapist was saying.

"Do you have friends in the city?"

"A few," Charley said thinking of Sam and Steve. He had offered her a place at the Avengers base. Perhaps she could stay there. Could she? Wouldn't that be overstepping her boundaries. They _had_ only just met.

But it felt like a lifetime ago.

"Could you stay with them for a few days until you figure things out?"

"I guess," She choked over her own words, masking it with a fake cough, "I feel like I've asked a lot of them over the last few days though"

"What else are friends for?"

"But I don't know if they really see me as friends," Charley admitted, trying to figure out how to phrase this. It was hard to describe when the friend she was on about was Captain freaking America, "I feel they're only caring about me out of obligation," the therapist frowned questioningly so Charley shook her head, "don't worry. It's hard to explain"

"So you're not sure if they see you as much of as friend as you see them?"

"Kind of…" Charley said slowly, "But more... – This friend is a sort of best friend to my ex, and now that he's left I think he just feels it's his duty to take care of me" It sounded ridiculous when she said it out loud, but it was the simplest way she could put it.

"Ah," the therapist nodded along. She tapped her pen on the side of her leg. Charley was glad to see she hadn't been writing all through their session this time but was actually listening to her. The scribbling of pen was so distracting last time. Finally the therapist shrugged her shoulders absently, "Does it matter? This friend of yours is reaching out to help you, perhaps you should take a leap of faith and take it"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

She left the therapist office feeling fresher than ever. As soon as her feet had exited the building she rummaged for her phone in her pocket and went straight to her contacts list. For the first time she skipped past Bucky's name without pondering absently on it but jumped to Steve's name and confidently pressed call.

She tapped her fingers, waiting anxiously for the phone to pick up.

She could do this right? She'd only be there for a few days? Not too long… just to get back on her feet and get a new fresh perspective which she needed desperately, drowning in her miserable life.

It wasn't at all like her, to do something to spontaneous without thinking of everything that could do wrong. Usually she needed to plan for weeks but for once she was going to do something reckless. Her heart racing as Steve's chirpy voice answered, "Hey charley".

"Hi, Steve. I was wondering if that option to live at the avengers' base was still open?"


	29. Ready Made Meal

**Chapter 29:**

The whirring metallic sound drummed into Charley's head, forcing her awake the following morning. She fought against life, rarely feeling so comfy and warm on a mattress. The bed she had at her old apartment was old and probably rotting in places considering it had been her mattress since she was little, having to have it flown in from England. On this one however, when she bent her back, the bed curved to her every need. Humming, she fluttered her eye lids open, taking in the white nicely spaced guest room, discovering the metallic whirring sound had been the blinds electronically rising, offering plenty of natural sunlight to shower the room.

"Good Morning Miss Weller," Something said from the corner of the room, and Charley screamed, fisting as much of her duvet as she could and tackling herself with it so she was fully covered underneath. Taking deep breaths, she prayed that whatever was in her room would leave her be, "My name is F.R.I.D.A.Y."

"Who?" Charley squeaked. Mabel suddenly pounced onto the bed and pawed at her face. Charley swiped it away and pulled her cat underneath the duvet for protection "Who Friday? What?"

"F.R.I.D.A.Y." The Irish voice repeated, "I've been told by Mr Rogers to assist in whatever you need."

 _If Steve had sent them, they can't be that bad_ ; Charley thought rationally, peering over her covers, careful to have her phone in her hands in case she needed to call Steve or scream for any other avenger to help. She was expecting to see some sort of maid standing at the end of her bed but found no one there. In fact no one was in her room at all and the door was still tightly shut.

Feeling she was going crazy, she relaxed and fell back onto the headboard of the bed. She was sure she had heard someone.

Her head was still catching up with being awake, but finally she caught up, remembering where she was. The Avengers base. Sleeping in a bed at the Avengers base, acting as if it was normal.

She had expected something to explode by now. Having arrived at the base well past twelve last night there was no one still awake to meet (Except Natasha, who apparently was at the gym but according to Steve it was ' _too Risky'_ to bother her when training). She'd gone straight to bed and hadn't had time to process everything yet.

She wasn't sure what she was meant to do. Just get up and try and locate herself to the breakfast room? She was assuming there was some sort of canteen or food room, Where else would the avengers eat? Maybe she'd find Steve first… but she didn't want to bother him.

As she was having this internal debate she struggled to get changed. Her legs were kicking in the air as she tried to get changed hiding behind the bed, having no found the right button to close the shutters which exposed her naked body to the world. Not something she wanted on her first day.

When finally looking decent she ventured out into the hallway. There was two ways she could go, each offering no specific direction.

"Hello?" Charley called out, hoping both someone would come and find her and that they would leave her alone. She had never been more petrified in her life of meeting people, "Is anyone around?"

She decided to open the first door available but it was typically locked and she wondered if this was going to be like an annoying video game where all the doors were locked leading you to one direction. Although she supposed, that would be helpful, at least it would guide her somewhere.

"Hello Miss Weller," the same Irish voice from before sounded from nowhere in particular. Charley jumped back into her room, feeling she had just been caught trying to snoop into an out of bounds room.

"Who the hell are you?" Charley groaned stomping her feet, looking around and peering her head quickly out of the door up and down the hallway seeing it completely empty, "No seriously… ooh," Charley figured it out, "Are you like Artificial intelligence?"

"That is correct Miss Weller," The woman said smoothly, "I am here to assist in any way you need"

"Well apart from you being completely creepy, this is awesome," her head was spinning like crazy. She could just imagine her dad if he was here, going full out fan boy on her, " _Can_ you help me?"

"That _is_ what I'm here for," It spoke and Charley was sure she could hear a little bit of sass in the Irish voice. She didn't think robots could even do that.

"Do you know where there is a food room?"

"Straight down the corridor to your right, two turns left and then you're there."

"Thanks," leaving her no other choice other than to trust the AI blindly. Charley followed the corridor to her right feeling stupid that she was walking so slowly. She still didn't know what to expect and was carefully treading with each footstep she took as if she was about to walk on to a landmine.

"Tony she's just a friend of mine," Charley heard Steve's patriarchal voice could be heard through the open door. Feeling she was intruding in on a moment, she ducked behind a column, pressing her back against it and waiting for the conversation to stop. She should probably just go back to her room and never come out of it again.

"I'm sorry, excuse me, I didn't realize you had a social life outside of the avengers," Tony freaking Stark said. She recognized his infamous voice from all of the youtube videos she'd watched of him. Carefully she peered around the side of the column and saw his arm. Internally freaking out she did a dance on the spot. It was Tony freaking Stark, right in front of her. He really was awesome.

"Tony she just needs a place for a few days. That's all."

Suddenly rigid, she realized they were talking about her. She backed away a step with the intention of leaving them too it but chose against it and decided to remain where she was. It was about her after all, it wasn't exactly being nosy if it was _about_ her.

Tony did a dramatic and wistful sigh, "Tell her if she touches my stuff she's out"

"That's fair," Steve replied.

"Speaking of, where even is she?" Tony said, "it's like twelve o'clock already. F.R.I.D.A.Y?"

"She's outside the door Mr Stark."

 _Shit._

Double shit.

"Fuck," She whistled under her breath, scrunching her nose up in distaste for that stupid artificial intelligence lady, and for a moment there she thought they were on the same side.

"Charley?"

"Yup, I'm here" Charley groaned, forcing herself away from the wall to face the music. Steve was the first she saw. His arms were crossed sternly as he raised his eyebrows questioningly and Charley wasn't brave enough to meet his gaze. She felt like she was four again when she was about to be told off by her dad, but when she finally did pluck up the courage to look at him he had a distant smirk on his face as if trying to hide his amusement.

"See what did I tell you!" Tony Stark gestured towards her passively, "Superspy. She's already at it"

"I'm not a superspy…"

"That's the exact thing a superspy would say"

"I'm sorry about the whole listening in on thing. Totally accidental," She tried to apologize but Tony was not having it. He was managing to cover it with humour and sarcasm but he was pissed. She held up her hand, "I'm Charlotte by the way," She used her full name feeling they weren't ready in their relationship to go full first name bases, she'd address him by Mr Stark if she had to.

When Tony looked like he had no intention of shaking her hand she looked to Steve who shrugged. Before things got too awkward she dropped her hand, settling it back to her side where it would remain, "Thanks for letting me stay"

"Oh I didn't," Tony held up his hand and backed away and turned his sharp gaze to Steve, glaring, "That was Steve because apparently that's okay to invite friends for sleepovers around other people's houses"

"Tony, she just needs a place to stay. For a few days, that's all."

"All I'm saying is I've never heard of this _friend_ before now." Tony backed away towards the fridge and pulled out an apple.

"I'll admit I've only known her a few weeks"

Tony took a large bite of the apple making the awkwardness in the room only double as the sound of the crunch seemed to double in noise, "An you assume she isn't a superspy"

"I'm not a spy!"

"No, you're right… you're a _super_ -spy"

Charley huffed in annoyance. She hadn't realized her being there would cause so much of a problem. If this was how Tony already viewed her she might as well pack her bags now. She was also irritated that Tony was as much of an arsehole as the magazines had made him out to be. As they said… never meet your heroes.

"She's not a spy, Tony," Steve stepped in, "She's just any regular civilian but she knew Bucky and since finding that out we've become friends. I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat her like this"

Tony considered his words and took another large gulp of his apple as he did.

"Bucky?" Tony narrowed his eyes, thinking, "You're old war pal?"

"Yeah."

"You and Sam are still looking for him then, huh?"

"Not really," Steve admitted, "We decided to leave it. He'll show up eventually"

Tony sucked in a breath and sharply turned towards Charley, glaring at her with harsh stern eyes. Nervously, she diverted her gaze to the room behind him. The kitchen was simpler that she would expect for a superhero base. She expected more flashy and technical objects but it looked like a normal running kitchen.

"I suppose she can stay. Just don't get in my way"

With that he dashed out of the kitchen, throwing his half eaten apple in the bin as he passed. Without a word Steve followed him, sending Charley a small smile but disappeared out of sight along with Stark.

Charley gaped after them, not sure what to do with herself and decided to take a seat on the couch area, pulling out her phone. Her stomach grumbled for food but she felt like she was intruding on someone else's house and it felt rude to simply get up and open the fridge for herself

She sat and played on her phone for most of the day. She'd finally beaten Bucky's old high score on Flappy Bird and was beginning to bore of looking at her phone, but after her confrontation with Tony she felt unwelcome to venture further around the house and stayed put for most of the day, taking up as little space as possible and getting out of people's way. The only person she spoke to was F.R.I.D.A.Y, who was a lot more entertaining than she'd expect. Her sarcastic remarks came in handy when having a conversation.

"Oh," Someone female said from the doorway and Charley halted her conversation with F..R.I.D.A.Y. to look at who had finally come to get some food. It must have been about dinner time now so she was expecting others to come down soon, "You're Steve's friend, right?" Black Widow said unfazed by her presence and continued towards the fridge, pulling a readymade meal out.

"That's me," Charley replied awkwardly doing a small wave.

"The one Tony's been complaining about all day"

"Definitely me," defeated, she sighed. This wasn't the start of the new life she had imagined. Away from Bucky. Away from her work and starting afresh but so far all the day had been was her thinking and when she thinks, her thoughts tend to lead to a certain soldier.

"Don't let him get you down," Natasha said, sitting down opposite her and offered her a bowl of some sort of curry. As it was the only interaction she had had all day she took it gratefully (plus she was starving), "Tony's an arse. He complains about everything. Unless it's about him of course"

"Thanks, I was kind of getting that vibe from him"

"You're Charlotte right?"

"Yeah, I prefer Charley though," Charley replied quickly. There was a moment of silence shared between the girls where Natasha seemed to be observing her non blinkingly and she had a slight suspicious Tony had sent her down to check if she really was a who she said she was

"Done anything today?"

"Not really. Playing flappbird," Charley held up her phone as proof, "beat my high score those so that's good"

"Want to go down to the gym?"

"oh, um… sure," Natasha stood up and left her bowl half eaten on the side. Charley regretfully hadn't even taken a single bite but left her own alongside Natasha's. She was still starving but at least she was up and about to do something, even though she had no idea what Natasha had planned for her. Did Natasha just want an exercise buddy? If so, she'd picked the worst person as she could barely pick up a single weight without having to have a twenty minute break to catch her breath, "Why?" she felt like she should ask as she followed Natasha blindly.

Natasha chuckled, "Tony is a complete lunatic if he thinks you're a spy"

"I feel like that's an insult"

"It was"

They walked for a while, mainly upstairs, which was an exercise in itself. It reminded her of her old apartment being on the top floor of the building.

Eventually they reached a glass door with a silver plated plaque reading 'The Gym'. Natasha held up her hand over a part of the wall and before Charley had time to question her action a blue light filtered out of it and scanned the reading from her palm.

"Oh my god that's so cool," Charley mumbled. Natasha turned around and rolled her eyes at her to which Charley tried to hide her delight and bit her lip from then on out.

"Natasha Romanoff can access the gym now," the voice of F.R.I.D.A.Y. called out.

"Thanks Fri," Natasha said, "can I install Charley's hand print too"

"Just place her hand right over the scanner"

She really had no idea what she was doing and why she was here but she did as she was told and raised her right arm. The blue light filtered out again and moved up and down her hand. It took a little longer than it did Natasha's but once it was finished it disappeared as if it was never there behind the blank white wall.

"Charlotte Anne Weller's hand print has been installed; she can now access the Gym"

"Thanks," Charley replied wearily, still not trusting the machine.

Natasha smirked at Charley's bewilderment at the technology and psuehd the door open as it came unlocked with ease. The room was blinded by darkness before lights flickered on in a line revealing the rows of gym equipment that ran down the sides of the well-lit white gym. The shutters on the windows opened up and Charley was half conscious of the mountain windows that stretched from the ground to the ceiling, fearful that everyone can see her make a complete fool of herself if anyone was to look in.

"It's alright, they're one sided," Natasha observed, "all the windows around the building are"

"Noice," Charley stroked a finger down the running machine seeing that it sped up to extra high speeds, probably for Steve who needed the challenge, "So what are we down here for?"

"Thought you could do with a break from Tony's whining, it's graining I know," Natasha sent her a knowing look. It was only then when Charley felt she had fully looked at the room did she notice Natasha. She was observing her from the other side of the room, her hands crossed over her lap as she stood by a large mat in the centre of the gym, "Steve told me that Barnes taught you a few things"

 _Shit,_ Charley echoed inwardly feeling her face go red from sudden nerves; _did she honestly expect her to spar with her?_ "A little. I'm really bad though"

"Not from what I've heard. Steve told me you managed to hold your own the other day in the car crash," she bowed her head at the mat, inviting Charley to come over to her but she already felt she was at a safe distance enough. It wasn't that she didn't trust Natasha, but she was a super spy who could probably still find a way to kill her even though they were a good five feet away from one another. If anything she was more terrified of her.

"Not really, if Bucky hadn't had turned up I'd be dead meat."

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Natasha smirked slyly, "Come on, I don't get many people to spar with. Caps too strong, Tony only fights with his armour on, Wanda's ability is magical not physical, Clint isn't here right now. I'd practise with Sam but I think he's scared of me"

"And you think I'm not!" Charley blurted out but nevertheless took a brave step forward, "Alright but you better go easy"

This seemed to bring a smile to Natasha's face as she loosened up a little, bringing up her arms into a defence position. Charley decided to react on natural instinct and mirrored Natasha's position, prepared to make the first move but Natasha was too quick as she suddenly fell to the floor and span on her knees, knocking Charley's ankle and causing her to crash onto her back. If it wasn't for the mat she was sure she would have broken her mat.

"I thought you were going to go easy on me," Charley heaved, opening her eyes in slits to see if Natasha was done kicking her arse yet.

"That was. I was much slower than I could have been"

"I'm so terrified of you right now."

"You shouldn't be," Natasha grinned, holding out a hand for Charley to take.

"This hand is a trick isn't it? I'm going to take it only for you to let go?"

"I'm not that cruel but now that you've said so…"

"ha-ha," Charley laughed grabbing onto her hand before Natasha had the chance to pull back.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

They wrapped things up after a good hour of sparring. Charley felt like she was going to explode from heat, sweat dripped from her forehead and bruises patterned her body from head to toe. Natasha never had any intention on going easy on her.

"That was fun," Natasha laughed as Charley had to use one of the exercise machines at the side of the room to pull herself back onto her feet, "you're not as bad as I thought you'd be either"

"You kicked my arse!"

"Not as much as I thought I would do," Natasha smirked slyly, "you managed to hold your own pretty well. You're a natural, you just need some coordination. Your style is messy"

"A natural? You think?" Charley highly doubted that but accepted the compliment never the less.

"Yeah, Barnes has been teaching you all wrong"

"What do you mean?"

"He's been teaching you the 'winter soldier' way, when you're much suited for a style that places emphasis on power in lower muscles. Your arms just aren't strong enough for Barnes's style," She informed her, throwing Charley a towel that had been neatly folded on the side for them.

She wiped her brow clean, "But I managed to hold my own better against Bucky than I did you"

"I hate to break it to you but that's cause he's been going easy on you," Natasha grinned, "I could teach you if you like"

"Really?"

"Of course," Natasha nodded. Her eyes drifted to the clock that hung on the wall above the door. It was getting towards eight and Natasha seemed eager to leave, "Sorry got to get up early tomorrow. Meet tomorrow?"

"Sure," Charley smiled, completely weirded out by the casual interaction she was having with the Black Widow. Natasha was about to leave and Charley realized she had no idea where she was going, "Do you know where Steve or Sam are?" She asked realizing she hadn't seen them all day and it would be nice to see a familiar face.

"Steve's probably still training and Sam…" Natasha's lips curled up into a smirk, "Well let's say he's still busy cleaning up his mess from today"

"What happened?"

"I'm not supposed to say," Natasha giggled. _Giggled_. Charley stared at her confused until Natasha looked up mischievously, "I mean Sam _did_ only say not to tell Steve, so I guess this doesn't count"

Curious now, Charley stepped forward, "What did he do?"

"Someone broke into the base"

"What…" Charley gasped, not understanding why Natasha was being so calm about this. Were they dangerous? Why wasn't the building on high alert?

"Oh no, it wasn't anything serious. They stole some scrap material. No idea why but… Sam got into a run in with them and got his arse kicked," Natasha covered her hands with her mouth she was laughing so hard and had to hold her stomach to recover. Charley was still failing to see what was so funny about this story, "the guy called himself ant-man, because his power is to shrink to the size of an ant. _Sam gotten beaten by an ant_ "

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

She found herself, in the late evening, sipping at a mug of hot chocolate on the rooftop watching as the sun went down. She had to give it to Stark, even though she had no idea where she was, the place was beautiful. It had a wonderful view. It was along a riverbank that lead down, out of Charley's view.

After her session with Natasha her spirit had significantly lifted and she had gone to explore the base. Natasha had gone to bed early, requesting the two of them meet in the morning for an early sparring session (something Charley was not looking forward too). She had thought Steve had gone to bed too, she hadn't seen him since the morning and took him for someone who liked to get into bed before nine but there was a creak of the door and when she turned she was surprised to see him standing there holding his own hot chocolate.

"hey, I had to ask F.R.I.D.A.Y. where you were"

"Sorry, my introverted self led me up here"

"I've never been up here to look at the view myself," Steve said, looking onwards at the horizon.

"Take a seat then," Charley requested, patting down the paved ledge next to her where her feet were dangling over the edge, "It's pretty"

"Any reason you're up here?"

"Just thinkin'"

"Oh no," came Steve's witty reply and Charley glared at him. He took a seat next to her and slowly sipped his own hot chocolate. Usually she found silence between her and people awkward, but with Steve it seemed completely natural and she was content to simply watch as the sun went down, "I'm sorry about Tony earlier. He can be a little difficult"

"Oh no that's fine, I was more upset that my childhood hero hates me"

"He doesn't hate you," Steve laughed, "He's just untrusting"

The sun settled on the horizon, the last rays of sunlight reflected on the ocean, evaporating under the water and out of sight. It only became apparent then that the stars were present above her.

"I really miss him," Charley said pitifully, resting her head back so she was looking at the stars. They were still faded and Charley had to squint to get a good look at them. She tried to keep the desperation for him out of her voice but struggled too. With a careful look at Steve she realized she failed.

"I suspect he misses you too."

"It's more than that though," Charley sighed, "now that I'm no longer in Washington…" She paused and stared at Steve suspiciously, "Or am I?"

Steve lightly chuckled, "We're not in Washington, I can tell you that. Go on?"

"Now that I'm not in Washington it feels like I'm never going to see him again. Everything that's happening now is real, he doesn't know where I am. I thought this was a good idea but I don't know… just now, I don't know if he's safe-"

"He's fine. He knows how to hide from Hydra," Steve tried but Charley shook her head stubbornly.

"Until he doesn't and Hydra finds him"

"That won't happen and if it does we'll stop it."

"But we won't even know," Charley argued. She gulped back tears threatening to spill and went back to looking at the calmness of the stars. The longer she looked the closer she could see them actually moving across the night sky, time slowly going past her and she could see it, "Can I ask you something?"

"Hm?"

" _If_ they do find Bucky. Will they kill him or wipe his memories and turn him into a weapon again?"

This seemed to be a heavy question for Steve as he took a deep sigh and stared outwards. He took a while to answer and Charley was beginning to think the question had been too much to even think about being an option but finally, after a few minutes, Steve quietly mumbled, "Probably wipe him"

"Would he forget everything?" she feared for the answer.

"He forgot me." Steve replied sadly, "But that was after seventy years of memory wiping. It might be different. Maybe he'll fight against it more this time, his body more immune to Hydra's torture and it won't be so strong. He'll have a better chance at remembering. _If_ it were to happen again"

"Are you just telling me what I want to hear?"

Steve cracked a smile, "You caught me"

"Thanks anyway"

"No problem Chizzle"

"Don't you start calling me that too"

 **A/N probably a very rushed chapter. that's because it was very rushed, i'm sorry, i'm really struggling to find the time to write this but thanks for sticking with me :D**

 **Reviews:**

 **.2016: Thank you so much!**

 **KnightOwl247: It can only go up from here! i promise, i'm done torturing her for a little while. lol**

 **Becca: Sorry for the long update, hope you enjoy this chapter and i'm sorry if it seems rushed. Hope it lives up to expectations!**

 **SergentJamesBarnes: Thanks Bro**


	30. Civil War: The Start

**Chapter 31**

The decision to leave was not her own, but after receiving a message from her mum telling her of her Sisters upcoming wedding, She thought it was time for her to leave the avengers base and go back to England. In the end it was inevitable.

A month with the avengers was enough to understand their chaotic lifestyle. Each day seemed to bring one problem after the other, she hadn't realised how often the world needed saving. This meant most of her day was spent alone at the base waiting for the others to return, her sessions with Natasha were always Cut short and She rarely Saw Steve.

One thing was for sure, her fighting had most definitely improved with Natasha's help. She was able to give Natasha a good run for her money, though wasn't quite able to beat her yet.

Steve tall stance made Charley lean up and snake her arm over Steve to pull him into a fair well hug.

"We'll see each other soon," Charley said, stepping away from Steve with a look of sadness in her goodbye. She really had no idea when she was coming back. Of even if she was.

"You know you're welcome to come back anytime"

"I don't know about welcome," Charley frowned, referring to Tony's dislike of her. He'd literally cheered in her face after she announced she was leaving, telling her that there would be a celebration party the day she was gone. At first she thought he was joking until she saw the amount of booze he'd ordered being delivered.

"Don't listen to him. Me and everyone else there would be more than welcome to see you come back."

She wouldn't deny that. Her friendship with Natasha had grown significantly. She was surprised by how well she got along with the apparent cold blooded killer, but over the course of the short month she could quite honestly say they were good friends. If it wasn't for Natasha, the next hydra agent Charley would have come across would have probably killed her.

She also had become friends with Wanda, but she'd kept to her room most of the days and only appeared at meal times and whenever they were in need of her and although Natasha told her that Wanda's power should be the most feared on the base. However, Charley could see Wanda would hardly hurt a fly.

"I don't know when or if I'll be back Steve," Charley admitted. Her grip on her suitcase tightening, "even though staying with all you _avengers_ -" she lowered her tone as civilians passed her to board their plane, "was amazing, it wasn't exactly the kind of lifestyle I should be leading. I need to go back to normality"

"I understand," Steve nodded, "I'm just a call away if you need me"

She nodded. It was surreal to think that she had all of the avengers' contacts just hidden away at the bottom of her contacts list. Even Natasha had felt close enough to give her, her number.

"I better go," Charley said, looking back at the boarding times. Hers was coming up soon and she still had to go all the way through security. She couldn't miss this flight, she had no money left and although Steve (and Tony, surprisingly... although she thought it was more to get her out of his way) had offered to give her money. She couldn't accept. She didn't need to owe him an even bigger debt than she already did. He'd helped her out too much.

"Yeah," Steve smiled, "and if anything comes up with you know who, I'll let you know"

Charley went to make a harry potter joke but remembered Steve was from an era where Harry Potter did not exist.

"Please do," She said. Not that she thought anything would happen, she was still firm under the belief that Bucky wasn't coming back, unless he wanted too, "and I'll let you know too." Which was even more unlikely. Bucky was hardly going to travel to England.

"and that includes if you feel suspicious about anyone."

Charley's brows furrowed together, not understanding what Steve meant by that, "sorry?"

"Hydra," he said with a low breath, "just because you've gone to a different country doesn't mean they're not going to be looking for you. Just watch out for anything and let me know"

"Course," Charley shrugged, nervously looking up at the time. She had ten minutes, "I'm really sorry but I need to go"

"I know," Steve grinned, quickly giving her another hug but when they pulled apart Charley still wasn't sure what to say. Did she just walk away now? She'd never really had to say goodbye to anyone like this before. When she left for America, her parents hadn't sent her off. When bucky left, it was him who had to walk away and now that she'd found a friend she could finally count on it was her turn to say goodbye.

"Thank you for everything," she settled on, kissing him quickly on the cheek and grabbing her case by its handles, dragging it away without looking back wanting nothing more than to get back home and see her family.

As she waited in queue to have her bags checked, she rang her mum, asking that in eight hours, she could be there to pick her up from the airport but she didn't pick up and her remaining hours in America were left with her trying to ring home before having to settle with a hasty text message telling her mother the details of when and where to pick her up.

The flight was quicker than expected. She had fallen asleep through most of it, still completely exhausted from her early morning sparring session with Natasha. Natasha had gone at her with 100% effort, realizing it was their last session together and wanted it to be as beneficial as possible. Now Charley was aching in places she didn't know existed.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Against all the odds, Charley's mum was waiting for her outside. On tip toes, despite wearing heels, searching through the crowd for her daughter. Upon spotting her, Charley forgot all about the disorientated feeling at the back of her head and deja vu at being at the airport again and ran for her mother, engulfing her in a hug.

"I missed you," She smiled, feeling her mum wrap an arm around her warmly.

"You're lucky I'm here," her mum said, hugging her back equally as affectionately, "we'd lost my phone charger and we'd just brought a new one when I got your text and fifty missed calls"

"Sorry I was desperate."

"A little longer warning would have been appreciated," she teased, pulling away and smiling at her daughter. It was only then that Charley realized her mum had a tear staining her cheek.

"Mum, why are you crying?"

"I just missed you."

"Missed you too," Charley grinned, her eyes darting to the car to see if her dad was hiding behind the wheel but he wasn't there, "Where's dad?"

"Out celebrating Ellen's engagement. He was off at work when I received your text, I didn't have time to tell him," Her mum told her with a scolding attitude raising her eyebrows with disappointment, "which is why I would have appreciated more time"

"Sorry." She gulped looking down.

"You've got a bit of an American twang now," Charley frowned, she hadn't noticed that. Every American she met always commented on her British accent. She had just assumed it was the same since she left.

"I guess I have been over there almost two years."

"Too long," Her mum shook her head, guiding charley to the car, "No one knows you're coming home. It'll be a nice surprise. If we hurry we might make the end of the celebration"

"So who is this guy that Ellen's marrying?" Charley asked, referring to her sister. Of course her sister was the first to get married out of the two of them, despite being younger. Charley tried to reject the green monster inside of her. She'd always thought her sister was much smarter, prettier and had much more chance at succeeding at life than her. It was only fitting she found the love of her life first as well.

Charley was just starting over again from the mess she'd made in Washington.

"His name's Daniel, lovely boy. They've been dating a year and a half now." Engines roaring as her mother exploded in gossip about her sister and the perfect life she was setting up for. Charley stayed quite for most of the journey, taking in all of the wonderful things Ellen had done over the past year or two. Apparently she was half way done to completing her teacher degree and was acing it. She'd met Daniel at University and they'd hit it off right away. Daniel wasn't a mass killer, nor a super soldier, nor had any links to the terrorist Agency; Hydra.

It was something her mum had yet to bring up. She knew who Bucky was and would have done her research into him. There was no hiding it. She had no idea what had happened. But then again she was probably just happy it was no longer a _thing_. Maybe she was just going to ignore it had happened all together. Charley really wished she would.

"Is this a formal celebration?" Charley wondered as she began to recognize familiar places. They passed the old clock tower, went under the motorway bridge she used to be deathly afraid of, the fish and chip shop that often gave her family free meals on a Friday if they got there when no other customer was about, her old best friends house. She took in all the details, suddenly an overwhelming feeling of homesickness filled her up and she wondered how she had managed two years away from this place.

"Sort of," Her mum gestured to the dress she was wearing and heels, "but I'm sure what you're wearing will be fine"

She highly doubted that, wearing jeans and an overlarge hoodie, "Sure," She shrugged. She was used to looking the trashiest in the room anyway.

Suddenly they swerved into a car park and she could see an old rustic looking pub. God, how she pissed these awful traditional English places. Large colourful balloons floated outside with an oversized banner reading ' _Congratulations Ellen and Daniel on your engagement'._

"Wow," Charley mouthed realizing her family had booked out the whole pub for the celebration.

"I know it's a bit much but we're happy for her." Her mum said, locking the car up.

A rush of fear flooded through Charley at the thought of seeing her family, How many people had her parents told about Bucky? How many would be disappointed by her presence? She's disappeared for two years with barely any contact. They couldn't exactly be happy.

On impulse she took hold of her mums arms and stopped her from going further.

"Are you disappointed in me?" Charley looked down, fearful of the response. She needed to know.

"Course not darling," her mum smiled calmly, "I'm very proud of you"

"Even though Ellen's got this and going into a successful career," Charley sighed defeated. She really had fucked everything up.

"You went to America and took a chance to find something over there, some things don't work out but you've come home and now you can start anew. Of course I'm proud of you"

Her mum gave her a swift hug and a kiss on the head and began to walk back in again. Charley, however, hung back and looked up at the sky. Due to the shitty English weather the clouds covered most of the sky and so the stars weren't visible here as they were in America. She wasn't sure why not seeing the stars bothered her so much, but waited a minute or two for the clouds to part and a small stretch of sky could be viewed.

"I did find something," Charley mumbled quietly to herself, thinking of Bucky. Pressure doubled on her chest as the hurt of thinking about him returned so she shook her head and wiped him from her mind.

She was here to start afresh, not to dwindle on the past.

Charley stared apprehensively at the door and took a deep breath going inside to face the music.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

 **1 year later**

With a death grip, she clutched onto the folder and ran through the set. Regretting wearing her flats as thy slipped off her feet, clanking with the ground as she walked. She could feel the blisters already beginning to rise as she curled her toes up in order to keep them on. She had half a mind to take them off, throw them away and walk bare foot for the rest of the day. She pushed through a crowd of extras and found the cameraman and handed him the folder. Without so much as a thanks he snatched it off of her and returned to his job.

"Could I get some tea?" Someone asked. She didn't see who but she gave a curt nod and ran off to do as she was told, tripping over wires. She was quick with making it, stirring it so quickly that it spat back at her, spilling over the counter. Not sure if she should add any sugars she left it, running back to whoever asked her with a hand covering the top of the mug to stop any from seeping.

"Did someone ask for tea?" She called out, and someone raised their hand and she handed it to them, still not catching their face.

"Action!" the director yelled. Everyone's conversation sized and Charley halted in her mid run to catch a breather. She always liked when action was called as it allowed her just to stop for a second and watch the action before her. Maybe learn some spoilers.

Right now, she was lucky enough to be on the set of Doctor Who. Every day was a struggle not to freak out over the fact she had finally broken into the film industry, and on something as good as Doctor Who. One of her all time favourites. The job was more challenging than she expected but it was nothing compared to some of the things she'd been through with Bucky. So she never (barely) complained about the long shifts, and lack of sleep or the physical ache in her arms from carrying heavy loads.

She looked up to see what was happening on scene but caught eyes with another runner. Luke was his name. He was carrying three folders in his hands with a prop from the scene balanced on top of them, his glasses lopsided on his face. With awkward arms he managed to hold it all in one hand and raise the other to give her a small wave.

Grinning back she looked away, pretending to scratch her face to hide the already raging blush she could feel scorching on her face. Thankfully the director yelled cut and the crew moved into action again, the bustle of a busy set restarting again. She went on her way, grabbing a prop, making coffee, taking her break, before finally being pulled back onto set as a cameraman asked her to get a technological piece from the back room. She had no idea what it did but she did as she was told and was quick to get it to him.

She'd been on set for a full nine hours now and her head was beginning to spin. Feeling as if she was about to collapse she escaped outside, the fresh air hitting her like a ray of bullets.

The door she'd just exited from gave a loud creak and opened again revealing a very red faced Luke.

"Oh. Hi," Charley smiled.

"Are you leaving?"

"no, no just needed some air," he visibly relaxed to which she furrowed her brows at wondering why that relieved him. Did he need her help?, "You know what it's like"

"Yeah, yeah. Course," Luke nodded.

"Do you need any help?"

"Yeah-no, I was just wondering if you were- uh, free for coffee or something later."

Despite having nothing to trip on, Charley's foot slipped beneath her out of shock and she had to use the wall for support, scratching her hand down the brick wall as she tried to pull herself back onto her feet and keep any dignity she had left in her.

"Oops," Charley gave a nervous laugh. Slowly trying to find the courage to look up at Luke and give him an answer.

"If you don't want to it's cool I just really like you," Luke admitted and she could see him nervously shuffling on his feet.

Her mouth felt like it was glued shut, suddenly. It was surprising, usually it took a lot to shut her up but she really didn't know what to say. It had been over a year since Bucky. Not one word from him. She had been expecting something. When she told Steve to give up in his search for him with the hope Bucky would come out of hiding on his own terms; He _was_ actually meant to come out of hiding.

It was about time she moved on. She couldn't live the rest of her life pining over a guy. But she couldn't help but feel like she was cheating on him for even thinking about going out with Luke. Luke was great, he was sort of shy but the type of shy that came off looking cute. And she wouldn't deny he was incredibly good looking with his dark black hair flopped over the side in curls and hipster glasses that mirrored his nerd-ness. They shared similar interests and there was the fact he wasn't an ex assassin from the 1940's. He was completely normal. Maybe that's what she needed. Since coming back to England after her vacation with the Avengers she didn't realize how much she missed normality.

Finally she looked up, coming to a conclusion to her internal debate. She was going to kick herself later for this, she could feel it.

"No, I'd love to. When were you thinking?"

"Tonight?" Luke asked eagerly, "I mean… if you wanted"

"Yeah, that's cool." Charley nodded slowly, not sure what else to say now. _Oh god what if it was going to be like this on their date. An hour of just awkward silence and her pathetically attempting to come up with pitiful conversation._

"I'll come pick you up?"

"Yeah sure. Perfect"

Luke nodded, smiling happily like a playful puppy before turning around to go back. He took a double take doing a weird thing with his legs and almost fell over. She tried hard not to laugh at his pitiful recovering. Although it was a little hypocritical of her considering she fell over her own two feet almost every minute. Perhaps that was something they had in common.

"Uh- where do you live?" He asked with a stutter as he pushed up his glasses. They had slipped down his nose when he tripped.

"Oh right yeah, you'll need to know that," She pulled out her notebook and pen from her pocket and scribbled her apartment down. It was a habit she'd gotten into ever since working on a film set, it helped make bulk drink requests easier when half of the crew wanted coffee and half wanted tea.

After she'd given him the small note with her address on it he smiled at her one last time before going back inside to the hectic set life, leaving Charley behind feeling guilty as ever, as if she'd just made a really big mistake.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

She paced in her one room studio, leaving worn out marks across her floor boards. Every time she walked passed the mirror she cringed a little more until her face had been screwed up so much she looked like an angry troll. Finally she planted her feet in front of the mirror and took a brave look, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

She would admit she hadn't put much effort into her appearance for her date. But in truth she'd never really been on a date before. With her and Bucky it was almost effortless, and there wasn't exactly many opportunities to go on 'dates' and she never felt the need to dress up for him. She could be herself. She was trying this approach with Luke but just felt uncomfortable in her own skin.

Finally she pulled out her make-up bag and added a touch to her face when the doorbell rang.

She heaved a sigh looking down at what she was wearing. It was nothing too impressive. She wasn't sure how fancy they were going considering he'd only said coffee so she'd put on a pair of jeans and a nice blouse.

"Just coming," She called from her bed, putting on a plaster so her feet wouldn't rub against her flats. Blisters had already appeared from the physical tasks of her working day.

She pulled herself up and opened the door revealing Luke. He'd put a lot more effort into his appearance than Charley liked to admit, making her look down at herself with distaste. He had pulled his usually curly hair back straight, gelling it down, with his glasses now gone, replaced by contact lenses.

"Hi, you look pretty," Luke grinned looking her up and down. Charley really wished he wouldn't, considering she still felt she looked like a mess.

"You look pretty too…" She replied, cringing as she said it, "I mean nice… you look nice. I like what you've done to your hair"

"Thanks," Luke laughed awkwardly, running a hand through it, "I'd do it on a day to day bases if it didn't take me so long". This made Charley cringe further… so he'd actually spent a long time getting ready for her. Was that what you were meant to do for dates.

"Shall we go?"

"Yeah"

"Where are we going?"

"There's a bar slash coffee place open around this time a few roads down. It's quite small so there's not many people there this time of night but it's got a pool table. I think you'll like it" She really wasn't any good at pool but she nodded along with it, accepting his arm as he offered it to her graciously.

"I thought we'd walk" he said and charley was glad she chose not to go for heels, despite being a short arse because of it at least her feet wouldn't be in pain with blisters being a pain tomorrow morning.

She nodded quickly, following in his steps as he crossed the road.

She hated her neighbourhood at night. It was on the cheap side, being a runner on a film set didn't pay well and the price of the studio matched the grime of the area. If possible, she avoided leaving the house past nine. Distinct smells of drugs could be smelt from her next door neighbours studio. The apartments next to her had a robbery only two days ago and before she moved in there was a murder that happened just outside. It was the kind of place she expected Hydra to attack and get away with it. But at least it was away from home and she was no longer bothering her parents.

She recognized the bar that Luke seemed to be leading her. She'd always liked the look of it but never had anyone to go with. It had a vintage feel about it. It even had a juke box inside.

"What do you want me to get?"

"Uh, just a diet coke for me, thank" Charley smiled as Luke headed, leaving Charley to find a table. She opted for high seated chair and surveyed around the bar. It was quite empty, but enough people to make it feel busy. If things went well with Luke, she'd have to come here more often.

She looked over at Luke who was just paying. As he turned around with two drinks that were filled to the brim in either hand (the somehow he still managed to slosh down his shirt as he walked over to her) she pretended to scratch at the table trying to think over a quick conversation to start up before he reached the table. She couldn't think of anything.

It wasn't that she didn't like him. Luke was adorable, kind and quite frankly… hot. But she couldn't help but feel awkward. They hadn't spoken a word coming here and now she couldn't think of a single conversation started. With Bucky she'd managed to talk to him so smoothly from the start and even when it was silent it was comfortable-

She stopped in her train of thought when Luke clanked two glasses of drink on the table. She saw then he'd opted for a typical beer.

"Do you like it here?"

"Love it. Nice decoration," She grinned, gesturing to the fairy lights hanging on the ceiling beams.

"Yeah it's pretty"

She nodded agreeing, mentally slapping herself. She couldn't keep comparing everything to Bucky. _It had been a year._ _He was gone._ She internally scolded herself, _Luke is a great guy, don't take him for granted._

Despite giving herself the lecture no conversation between her and Luke seemed to be flowing and she could see his face going red from the same thought.

 _Humour. Go with humour. Say something funny._

"So do you take girls here often," She teased, taking a sip of her drink to hide the pink of her cheeks.

He ducked his head down chuckling to himself, "ha, I wish. No, you're- you're the first girl I've asked out in a long time"

"Oh…" Charley rounded her lips sensing she'd touched a serious area as Luke smoothed a hand through his hair nervously.

"Got out of a bad relationship about two years ago. Yeah, we were going out for months," Luke explained and Charley was glad from the distraction of silence. Now they were getting somewhere, "I guess it just doesn't work out between two people sometimes, you know, and they find someone else it sort of gets…."

Charley was thrown off the moment as she was distracted by the TV screen behind the bar momentarily. Luke kept talking as he drew rings around the top of glass, lost in his own story. She snapped out of it, feeling bad and tried to concentrate on the story but the image of a building exploded brought her attention back again.

Her eyes skimmed down to the headline _'Avengers explosion kills 26'._

She hadn't realised she'd gotten to her feet, startled by the news, and started walking towards it until she felt a slight tap on her shoulder by Luke.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Avengers," she mumbled the one word, jumping back when a shot of Steve sitting down next to Wanda after the event, looking like he was comforting her was shown. Ignoring Luke tapping her shoulder she ran to the bar, "What is this? What is going on?" she demanded the bar tender who shrugged his shoulders.

"Happened earlier today. Those bloody Avenger people"

Glaring passionately at the bar tender she felt Luke approach her from behind.

"The Avengers? That happened in Nigeria today didn't it"

"How long ago?"

"four or so hours or so?"

That made sense as to why she'd missed it. She was home then, tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate with her cat catching up on TV episodes. She'd switched off her phone and there was no radio in her studio.

"Government doesn't know what to do with them so I've heard," Luke explained seeming to not be bothered, "far as I'm concerned they get what's coming for them. They act like they own the place, blowing up buildings as if they don't care"

"Shut up," Charley snapped, pulling out her phone, going deep inside her handbag to pull it out. When she turned it on she realised she'd had eight missed calls from her mother who probably wanted to know what juicy gossip Charley knew about the situation. But she knew nothing. She'd never known about any missions the avengers went on.

"Sorry, I didn't realise you loved the avengers so much," Luke frowned at her in confusion. She nodded, forgetting she'd snapped at him and quickly texted out a message to Steve, hoping to god that he hadn't changed his number within the year. She'd barely spoken to him. The extent of their relationship now was her posting a birthday card for his birthday July 4th.

 _I've heard what happened. Are you alright? - Charley_

She quickly texted out as the TV screen revealed another image of Steve being escorted out of Nigeria later that day, trying to hide from the cameras. In the background she could just make out the redness of Natasha Romanoff's hair.

"I'm sorry Luke, I've got to go"

"because of this bloody avenger thing," Luke turned his nose up, "they've got another one of these like every week"

"You're wrong you know," Charley said as she checked her phone again for a reply but nothing had come through. Not that she expected to so quickly. She stuffed it all in her bag with a brief glance back up at Luke, "They do care. That's why they do all the Avengers business. To save people you idiot"

She barely had time to capture the look of surprise on her face before she dashed out of the bar leaving the door swinging behind her, the cold air hitting her with a flash of relief.

She pulled out her phone again to send a quick text to Natasha. The only Avenger she had stayed in contact with and by in contact she meant emailing her every month or so. Charley was always quick to reply but Natasha's emails often took days to weeks to come back to her until Charley would give up when suddenly she'd receive an unexpected email from a certain red haired assassin. According to her texts were only to be used between them in serious situations. Now felt like the right time.

Momentarily she thought about texting the same to her as she did Steve but clicked the backwards space immediately already knowing Natasha would be alright, there was no point for all the fluff with her anyway, and instead simply texted; _'get Steve to look at his phone'._

Almost immediately her phoned dinged and a quick response of _'I will'_ , was all she needed to know that Natasha was on the case and nothing serious had happened to Steve.

She reached home and spent the majority of her night glaring at her phone waiting for it to bling from a text. The news played in the background but it had reached the point where they'd run out of news to share and had cut to witness accounts , all of whom sounded incredibly angry.

Her phone flashed and Charley dived for it, nastily hitting her elbow on the coffee table sides. With disappointment she saw it was only from Luke.

 _Sry 4 earlier, I didnt mn 2 upset u. Any chance we can restart date? –Luke_

She skimmed the text twice, the pit of guilt in her stomach rising having skipped out on him the way she did. Her primary thought at the time had been Steve's and the other Avenger's safety and she wasn't sure how she could have explained that to Luke before leaving.

Just as her fingers went to text back a quick flowing apology and reschedule plans her phone blinged again. This time from Steve.

' _I'm fine, governments gotten involved but we'll sort it' – Steve,_ feeling the negativity in his tone she abandoned the text to Luke to answer Steve when another, rather rushed text suddenly pinged up.

' _I'm coming to London next week. Peggy's funeral. Want to meet up?' – Steve._

 **A/N I know I'm the worlds slowest writer. I've got no excuse.**

 **So this is the start of the Civil War Plot line. I'm probably going to abandon the food aspect of the story for now cause I can't keep it up during the plot for Civil War. Thank you all to those who are still reading this story. I know I'm bad at updating but I love you all and I promise I am still updating, I won't abandon this story. Especially now that we've finally gotten onto the Civil War plotline**


	31. Civil War: Peggy's Funeral

**Chapter 31**

"I can't believe she's gone," A well-dressed man said to a cluster of people as Charley listened in having nothing better to do. Her phone had already died on her as she'd forgotten how much waiting there was at funerals and had killed her battery from playing flappy bird. All on her own she crossed her arms over her lap and tapped her fingers to the tune of a song stuck playing in a loop in her head, waiting to see someone she recognized. That someone, she was hoping was Steve. She took a few shuffling footsteps towards the large group of people feeling as if she could blend in there and when the group laughed she pretended to chuckle along but then manifested it into a cough as the woman beside her gave her a confused stare.

"And how did you know Peggy?" The woman smiled tightly, drawing the rest of the group's attention to Charley. It was the last thing she wanted.

"Oh me?" Charley gestured to herself, gulping when the woman nodded, "Oh just through mutual friends I guess"

"Who was this friend? Perhaps we know them?"

Was there any point in hiding it, "Steve."

"Rogers?"

Was there any other. She regretted saying it instantly as their eyes sparked up in interest.

"Yeah, I'm here for him, I guess," She hadn't directly received an invitation which was why she was so anxious to find Steve, feeling as if she was gate crashing a funeral of one of the highest Shield officials. She was surprised there wasn't any security on the doors of the church.

"ah," The woman nodded along, "and do you know where he is?"

"I was asking myself the same question," Charley avoided their gazes and instead went on tip toes to look for him the crowd but still couldn't catch sight of the blonde soldier and had to give up and go back to looking at the group who seemed to be prepared to ask question.

"Are you and Steve…"

"A couple? Oh god no." she dismissed quickly before rumours spread, "just friends"

"Right."

The chatter picked up again and she felt it best to escape the hungry gossip of the group before she got herself in a mess, quickly she stepped to the side and as fast as she could in high heels managed to run closer to the entrance of the church where she saw people were already filtering in. Deciding to no longer talk to anyone (and if they spoke to her, she'd make up a fabricated story about an adventure she'd had with Peggy) she took a seat at the back hoping to catch Steve as he came in.

 _*~It Started With Pizza~*_

The ceremony was beautiful. It was a beautiful send off for a beautiful person. It was the perfect way for those who knew Peggy to say goodbye. Charley was surprised when Steve had told her the funeral was in England since she'd spent most of her life in America but then she'd remembered she'd never lost her accent so maybe Peggy had always deemed England as her real home.

She spotted Steve's head floating in the crowd somewhere; beside him she spied Sam who she wasn't at least at all surprised had come to support Steve. He'd always been there for them.

The hall was full of people and that was saying something as the church was so big. Sitting at the back, Charley could hardly hear who was talking but she could just about make out a blonde woman stand up and climb the pulpit.

 _Sharon Carter._ She was sure that was the name she heard the priest invite up. Maybe she was her daughter. Peggy had kids didn't she?

"Margret Carter was known to most as the founder of S.H.I.E.L.D… but I knew her as Aunt Peggy." _Aunt Peggy._ Charley wasn't sure how that worked out considering this woman; Sharon seemed to be in her twenties. Charley noticed Sharon's eyes go down to Steve and wondered whether the two knew each other. She tried to move around to catch Steve's expression but his back was turned to her and accidently nudged the person next to her.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"She had a photograph in her office, Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to which is why I never told anyone we were related." Sharon paused, "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. She said, compromise where you can. But where you can't. Don't"

Once again she looked down at Steve and she had a feeling she was talking about the accords. It was all over the news, Charley only had to look at her phone to see the top news stories. It was now world famous news that the great Captain America wasn't up for signing his life away to the Governments hands.

"Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move… it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say 'no, you move'," Charley closed her eyes and could picture the very words Sharon was saying coming from Peggy and she hoped those words would at least bring comfort to Steve.

A few others stepped up onto the alter to give a speech about the wonderful person that was Peggy Carter. Not that anyone in the room needed saying. Charley had only met the lady twice and could quite naturally say she was one of the most remarkable people she had ever met.

What she was surprised about was how Steve was never asked to step up. Perhaps people thought that he hadn't known her in her late life and didn't know her that well.

The service ended and many teary eyed people left the church but Charley stayed back and waited for Steve, remaining in her seat when she saw Sam walk past.

"Chizzle, you're here," Sam smiled as she stood up, drawing him into a hug.

"Course I am, he asked me to be," Charley said nodding over at Steve who was still in his seat staring at the large black and white framed picture of Peggy in her younger years. He hadn't seen her yet, "is he alright?"

"He will be. I think he's just in shock that she's gone"

"What about the accords?"

"Not going so great," Sam winced, "But I'll let you talk to him about that. Catch up later Chizzle?"

"Sure," Sam hugged her again before departing. Most of the people had left the church now, some had stayed at the back to mingle but she thought she was safe enough to approach Steve.

"Hi," she greeted as soon as she was close enough for him to hear. She probably could have said it far away as her voice carried along the hallway echoing.

Steve looked up and his face softened as soon as he saw her, "Charley." He stood up, resting his back against the chairs, "You made it"

"I did text you but apparently you never look at your phone," She said, reminded of the time she text him after the explosion and only after she had text Natasha did he answer.

"If I'm honest I'm still not one hundred percent sure how these phones work. Give me time," he chuckled pocketing his phone again.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I am," he replied unconvincingly, "just strange knowing she's no longer here. She's always been there for me"

Charley had never really lost anyone. The closest she'd felt was when Bucky had walked out on her and that wasn't nearly the same, she knew somewhere out in the world he was out there. But other than a few pets she'd never lost anyone to death. She wasn't sure what to say to comfort him so set by putting a hand on his shoulder. This seemed to be the right move as he placed his other hand over hers with a grateful smile.

"Thanks for coming"

"No problem. Any excuse to spend time with Captain America," She stepped forward and with a smirk said, "I'm only here for the publicity. It makes me seem important"

"Course you are," Steve nodded but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes and regretfully Charley knew she'd have to give up on her sarcastic humour to cheer up Steve. It was easier said than done, "how's your life been since…"

"Since Bucky?" She said sternly and Steve gave a slow nod, "not as bad as I thought. I mean I've not gone and done a Romeo and Juliet yet"

"Now that's a reference I understand"

She chuckled, "I got a solid job, an apartment to myself. _Might_ have a boyfriend," she added nervously. For some reason she cared what Steve thought about moving on from his best friend but was surprised when he gave a large smile.

"Boyfriend?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure, I kind of skipped out on him on our first date but he's willing to rearrange"

"You're moving on. I'm glad for you, you deserve that." Charley's heart seemed to lift up a few inches, knowing that Steve wasn't mad at her for it felt like a thousand worlds had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Thanks and what about you? How have you been?" she asked as she spied Sharon waiting by the church doors for him.

"Well other than my whole team turning against one another, I say I'm doing pretty well."

"Sorry about that. What happened?"

"Wanda, she tried to stop a bomb exploding on me and ended up sending it into a building," Steve drifted off looking absently into the distance, "it's not her fault, it's mine. We were trying to take down an ex hydra agent who had a vendetta against me. He was part of the winter soldier project. He said his name and I couldn't concentrate on anything else. I would have died if it wasn't for Wanda"

"And the ex-hydra agent, is he dead?"

"A bomb went off in his jacket. Yes, he's dead"

"Good." Charley said harshly, her face become stone as she glared ahead of her. At least one of Bucky's capturers had paid the price they deserved. She just hoped it hurt. Unfortunately this led her thoughts to think about Bucky and where he was right now. Something she tried desperately not to think about if she wanted to avoid crying in front of everyone. Knowing it was no good avoiding the subject when she so desperately wanted to know, she asked, "Have you heard from him?"

She thought she knew the answer already. She trusted Steve enough to have called her if he'd heard even the slightest sound but she still couldn't help feeling disappointed when Steve shook his head.

"He'll show up eventually."

Deciding she didn't want to talk about it any longer she changed the topic back strategically to the accords, "What do the government want from you?"

"Basically to be under their control," Steve sighed with a grim expression, "I don't know"

"Charlotte?" a new voice joined the mix.

Charley span around to face the voice. It took her a moment to recognize it as it had been a whole year since she'd seen her but a large smile spread across her face as soon as she saw Natasha Romanoff standing there wearing a long black coat looking as glamorous as ever. She'd grown her hair out since the last time she saw her.

"If I'd known it was going to be a whole reunion I'd have brought the rest of the Avengers with me," Natasha smirked to herself moving to hug Charley who embraced her like long missed friends.

"I wasn't expecting to see you too," Charley grinned letting go of the assassin.

"I'm full of surprises," Natasha smiled back before turning to Steve, her eyes questioning whether he was okay.

Steve nodded gently understanding her question without words, "I'm okay. Just in shock – when I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone, when I found out she was alive, I was just lucky to have her. It's going to take a while to process that she's really gone now too"

Natasha smiled sympathetically at him, rubbing his arm with her hand comfortingly, "She had you back, too"

Steve clearly didn't want to talk about it as he took one last look at the black and white photo of Peggy before looking away, "Who else signed?"

Charley noticed the soft flicker of Natasha's eyes turn to Charley as if it was dangerous territory to be talking about the accords in front of her but Steve shrugged, no longer caring about sharing secrets between friends.

"Tony, Rhodey, Vision"

"Clint?"

"Say's he's retired"

"Wanda?"

"TBD"

Through the conversation Charley had stepped back to let the two Avengers deal with the situation on their own but there was one thing she wasn't understanding. Why had so many of the team chosen to sign the accord whilst the other half stood unsure.

"Why have you signed it Natasha?" Charley stepped up clearly, "Surly you don't want the government having control over everything you do"

"It's time I was on the right side for once," Natasha straighten, straightening her dress down as she did but she looked at Steve as she said, "we need to be put under control"

"All because of an accident caused by Wanda to save Steve?"

"An accident too many," She uttered not taking her eyes off Steve as she tried to convince him, "I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the accords. There's plenty of room on the jet"

Steve visibly slumped.

"Just because it's the path of least resistance... doesn't mean it's the wrong path," She warned her tone softening as she added, "You could come too Charlotte. I've heard there's lovely sightseeing there"

Honoured she'd even been asked, Charley straightened where she stood but knew there was no way she could leave to go on a holiday now. For one, she really wanted things to work out between her and Luke. She did really like him. Secondly, she couldn't just up and leave when she was progressing with work for once, she had heard the other day that there was a chance for a promotion from a runner to a camera assistant and she couldn't pass that opportunity up.

"I can't, thank-you though," Charley replied with a grateful nod. Natasha seemed disappointed but accepted it anyway, turning back to Steve.

"What are we giving up to do it?" Steve asked as soon as she looked back at him. When Natasha didn't seem to be able to answer he sighed, "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it"

Natasha's lips twitched upwards, "I know"

"Then what are you doing here?"

"I didn't want you to be alone," Natasha smiled, "but seeing as you have Charley I better be off"

Natasha was the first to pull Steve into a hug as the two embraced one another. Charley couldn't help but smile at the scene although every time Natasha expressed an ounce of attachment to someone she was always surprised. Still expecting Natasha to be a cold blooded assassin. She was so much more.

After a minute they pulled away and it was Charley's turn for a hug.

"Keep writing to me," Natasha said.

"As long as you reply," She replied with a small glare at Natasha for leaving her hanging for months on end with no email back, "or I'll start sending you spam"

They exited the church together but as soon as they made it to the bright outdoors Natasha disappeared, a mysterious black car driving off without another word.

"I'm still not sure whether I should be extremely terrified of her?" Charley stared off as the car disappeared around the corner, she saw Steve look up at the church one more time with a mournful sigh, "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah," he took a deep breath, "Are you staying in London for a few more hours?"

Her work and apartment were centred the other side of London. She'd made the awful decision to drive to the church which meant it had taken her practically all day to travel from one side to the next and she knew if she wanted to get home at a decent time, she'd have to leave now.

She went to say this but caught herself quickly. Steve had been there for her when she needed it, plus she had come all this way to see him.

"I'm probably going to book into a hotel somewhere," Charley looked around as if expecting to see a magic sign for a hotel appear, "Do you know where one is?"

"I'm staying at one just down the road, I'm sure you could get a last minute booking"

"Bearing in mind I only have about fifty quid left on my card," Charley said, remembering she was in the middle of London, where was she going to find somewhere cheap.

"I'll get Tony to pay"

"No, don't be stupid. I can't let him do that"

"Charley he could buy the hotel, demolish it and rebuild it again and it wouldn't make a dent in his fortune," Steve insisted and she was about to shake her head and refuse again but he added with a plea, "I really want to catch up with you"

"ugh fine, but I'm paying him back ASAP"

Steve grinned as he held out an arm for her to take like an old fashioned gentleman. Giggling to herself at the idea of walking along the street, arms linked with Captain America, she accepted the arm graciously.

It seemed every single person at the funeral had booked into the same hotel as the reception area was full of people clad in black clothes, most in deep discussion, some sitting alone drying their tears away and some booking in for the night.

Steve migrated towards Sharon Carter, Peggy Carter's niece who Charley was very eager to meet, curious to see how like Peggy she actually was.

"Steve," She smiled as soon as she saw him, instantly turning her back on the people she had been having a discussion with, "it's good to see you again"

"You too," Steve tensed uneasily, "You could have told me you know"

"When?" Sharon raised an eyebrow, "When I was working undercover as your next door neighbour or when you were ignoring me for that exact reason. And what difference would it have made anyway, me being Peggy's niece?"

"You'd be surprised."

Charley stood in between the two of them casting her eyes to each of them separately as if playing an intense game of tennis, her eyes pinging from one to the other. Sharon hadn't even acknowledged her presence yet whilst the two made some sort of love eyes at each other. She went to take a step back when Steve introduced her and Charley cringed feeling that Steve just missed out a crucial opportunity to ask this girl on a date.

"This is Charley, a friend of mine," he gestured down to Charley who have an awkward wave, half on her tip-toes as she had been about to take a step back. She wobbled a bit but managed to find her way back onto her feet without embarrassing herself in front of Sharon.

"Nice to meet you," Sharon smiled, "are you part of the superhero business, as it were, yourself?"

"I wish," Charley replied with a snort, "but no, unfortunately not," she gestured between Sharon and Steve, "So did you not know she was Peggy's niece until today"

Looking slightly annoyed Steve nodded, "no, I didn't"

"I used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and I was assigned to look out for Steve whilst he lived in Washington which meant I had to take an undercover role as his next door neighbour," Sharon smirked with an uncanny resemblance to Peggy. She leant forward as if about to tell Charley a secret but didn't lower her tone so Steve could hear perfectly well, "and he fancied me"

Steve sighed, "Let's forget that happened" Charley suppressed giggling for Steve's benefit but saw him light up red, "the CIA have you stationed over here now?"

"Nice change of topic," Charley mumbled to Steve who responded by swaying on the spot to nudge her, he meant it gently but being light on her feet, Charley ended up stumbling.

"Berlin," Sharon answered, sending Charley a weird stare as she recovered from her fall, "Joint Terrorism Task force"

"Right, right. Sounds fun"

"I know, right"

Steve did a slow nod, "I've been meaning to ask you, when you were spying no me from across the hall-"

"You mean when I was doing my job."

"Did Peggy know?"

Sharon took a moment to answer, her eyes flickered to Charley and she took that as a hint to move aside so they could have a private moment together. Not wanting to invade on their privacy she turned to the reception desk to book a room when she caught sight of Sam marching into the hotel clearly looking for someone.

"Sam? You alright?"

He halted when he saw her, "Where's Steve?"

"Over there talking to Sharon."

"Right, there's something you've both gotta see"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Bucky was back.

Whilst Sam paced from wall to wall of the hotel, wearing out the carpet with an anxious look on his face, Steve stood still with his arms crossed carefully watching the news images dance across the screen, memorizing each bit of detail.

Charley however was looking out of the window, her legs curled up against her as she sat in an uncomfortable hotel chair with a tablet dropped onto her lap. Every now and then Sam would swap channels to reveal the same news, as if he was making sure it was real and he wasn't just hallucinating.

But he wasn't. Bucky was back.

She'd always imagined Bucky would come back on his own terms, maybe he would have thought leaving her was a stupid idea or he'd realize he needed Steve and Charley. She never thought she'd see his name spread across the news again, tainting it.

"It's not true," Charley finally said after half an hour of reading news articles and watching the news to confirm it.

"Charley, they have CCTV pictures of him," Steve told her.

"Which are blurry, they could be faked. Someone's trying to set him up." Steve still didn't look sure so she added, "He wouldn't do this not unless…" her thoughts caught up to her. Steve noticing she'd stopped talking turned around to face her but knew what she was thinking, because he'd already been thinking it too.

"You haven't seen him for a year, Charley, anything could have happened," he said, gulping, "Hydra could easily have gotten to him"

"They can't have"

"How do you know? Have you seen him, or spoken to him"

"I-" she stuttered. Her hands slid up to the crook of her neck where it lay. She hadn't planned on telling anyone, to keep it personal, but the situation called for her to admit something. Steve caught on to her stuttering and glared.

"What do you know"

"A month ago for my birthday I was given this," She undid the top bottom of her shirt and pulled out two silver, shiny dog takes, they shook in her hands as she handed them to Steve, "I'm assuming they were from him"

"Why didn't you tell me, we agreed we'd tell each other if he got into contact"

"I don't know," She shrugged, guilt overwhelming her as she realised Steve had only wanted to little hope his best friend was still out there somewhere, "I guess I just wanted to keep it personal"

"Not good enough," Steve sternly snapped, eyeing the dog tags before giving them back to her. She shrank further in the chair, wanting to be swallowed up by the world. She'd rather receive a lecture from her mum about her immature decision making rather than receive a small lash from Steve.

"It's not her fault, Steve," Sharon, who had been silent for most of the time, stepped in to defend her but Charley brushed it off.

"No, it's fine. I should have said something"

"Hydra could still have him though," Sam muttered, "If he sent that a month ago, there's still a whole month he could have been caught"

"Bucky's too good for that though. You've never been able to find him, how could Hydra?"

"Chizzle, I know you want to believe that he didn't do this," Sam said, "But it's not looking too good for him right now"

Sharon's phone rang putting a stop to their conversation as they all turned to her. She sighed, visibly looking annoyed, "I was wondering how long they'd take to call. I'm going to be called in, I want to help but I don't know how much help I can be, considering I work for the government who want your friend's ass"

With one last smile, Sharon went into the other room to take the call, closing the door behind her.

"I'm guessing we're going too," Sam pitched, turning to Steve for orders.

"I've got to. Bucky needs me"

"I'm coming too," Charley stretched up, clumsily standing up from the seat before they had the chance to turn her down.

As expected Steve cut in, "it'll be too dangerous"

"He's _my_ boyfriend"

"I thought you had a boyfriend back home," Steve folded his arms challenging her. In fairness to him, it was a good point. She hadn't seen Bucky in a year she could hardly label herself as his girlfriend, and then there was Luke. She liked him she really really did. But Bucky always came first. Always.

"Nice try, I'm coming"

"We'll be going against the law"

"I housed an ex hydra assassin who was America's most wanted… do you really think I care?"

 **A/N I've decided to keep Sharon/Steve a thing but to** _ **actually**_ **build the relationship up. Meaning there will be no awkward, out of place kiss scene unless it actually works (which I don't think in any context it would work unless the relationship was built up**

 **Elliot Locksley: yay a new reader. Thank you soo much for reading, and yes I know my grammar is awful and I know there's no excuse for it but I tend not to read back/edit my chapters (which is a terrible thing to do, especially since I'm so slow at updating) but I'm just in always such a rush to update. Thank you for your honesty, I'll try and work on that in the future. Thank you so much for reading!**

 **.2016: thanks for the review!**

 **Yuki Suou: Thanks for the review and yes, I'm aware, I'll admit I uploaded that chapter without editing (and this one thinking about it now) I just had no time to edit but thank you for being honest with me. I Appreciate it :D**

 **Becca: thank you so much, I'm just sorry it's taken me so long to get on too**

 **Yatgod1: Thank you so much!**

 **Goldenfightergirl: Steve had invited her to live at the avenger base without asking, which peeved him off. He doesn't hate her like in a mortal enemy way more just in a 'I don't know this person who is living in my house, why is she here?' kind of way. I just felt like Tony would react that way.**

 **MayflyMortality: I sort of feel bad for making Charley completely ditch Luke but hey ho, it was never meant to last.**

 **BitterSweet256: Thank you so much for the review, sorry it took so long getting onto the Civil War plot but we're finally here (almost a year after this fic first came out, lol)**


	32. Civil War: Bucky

**Chapter 32:**

Watching from a distance, hidden in broad daylight. Something she had taught him was the best way to hide; Steve watched as Natasha picked up her ringing phone.

"Steve. I know you're going after him," Natasha warned, standing up as her eyes surveyed the area and he was lucky that they didn't fall on his exact position as he was clearly visible despite a cap and sunglasses for disguise, but she'd see right through that, "The task force were looking into Charlotte due to her previous links to him, but when they went in to question her she wasn't at home, apparently she'd booked a plane ticket out here." Giving an intake of breath, she added, "Steve, I'm warning you stay out of this. I know how much Barnes means to you and Charley. I really do, but take her back home and stay out of this. You'll only make this worse. For all of us"

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?"

"No but someone will," she said, "and Charlotte. How could you bring her into this? She's a civilian"

"I warned her against it but if he's that far gone then it should be us two that bring him in."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Slurping up her milkshake, Charley took in her surroundings. She'd been left with Sam who non-stopped looked at his phone for the time, anxiously. The two of them were rocking out some shades which Steve had advised the two of them to wear, because apparently they were unable to be noticed _now_ they had sunglasses on. To be fair to Steve, his point was made as CIA agents ran around them and not a single one of them noticed Charley and the falcon ideally sipping milkshakes.

"How've you been Sam?" Charley asked Sam, who she felt sorry for as his only job at the moment seemed to be playing babysitter for her.

They hadn't had a chance to talk. Most of the plane ride she'd been asleep and they were in such a mad rush there hadn't been enough time for catch up conversation.

"Been good," Sam smiled for the first time since they arrived, "until recently anyway when the whole team fell apart and now this."

"We'll find Bucky"

"That's what I'm worried about."

She frowned, questioning, "What do you mean?"

"You sure he's not been taken by Hydra?"

"Positive."

Steve appeared smoothly beside them, also supporting a cap and sunglasses which Charley wasn't sure would fool her. He still looked like Captain America. Luckily no one had noticed them yet.

"She tell you to stay out of it?" Sam asked referring to Steve's conversation with Natasha. Steve's lack of answer gave it away, "might have a point."

"He'd do it for me"

"1945, maybe"

"He still would." Charley glared down at her milkshake and then up at Sam who only rolled his eyes.

"I just want to make sure we consider all our options," Sam said, now addressing both of them, "You're not prepared for this type of field work Chizzle"

"Why do you think Natasha's been training me? I'm decent"

"It's still not enough, even after years of practise you still might not be ready," Same pointed out, "All I'm saying is the people that shoot at _him-_ " he gave a swift gesture to Steve, " usually wind up shooting at me. I don't want you in the firing line. You're still a civilian and a good friend"

Flattered by his care, Charley bowed her head. She knew it was a risk coming, but it was worth it for him.

Sharon appeared beside Steve before Charley could answer back. Subtly she slid over a file.

"Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public. Everybody thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym. Most of its noise, except for this," Steve picked up the file and skimmed the first page. Abandoning her milkshake, Charley slid off her chair to join him to see if there were any pictures of him, of what he was up to now a days. She smiled slightly when there was a CCTV footage still of a blurred man walking down a crowded street. The footage had clearly been enhanced to get a better focus but even still it wasn't enough to get a clear shot of Bucky's face, "My boss expects a briefing, pretty much now... so that's all the head start you're gonna get.

"Thank you."

"You're gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight."

Steve gave a curt nod and turned to Sam and Charley who were waiting anxiously for his next order. Charley felt like a balloon had burst in her stomach at the thought that she might be seeing Bucky again, even under the circumstances it was under.

"You two ready?" Was all Steve said and Charley found herself nodding a little too quickly for it to be natural.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Sam was the look out and whilst Steve tried to convince Charley to be his 'eyes' on the floor, Charley refused. Despite what he said, she felt like she had a better chance at getting through to Bucky than Steve did, knowing _this_ version of him much better than Steve did.

Steve took quick strides up the stairs, sometimes three at a time, and Charley had to do a small jog to catch up. Unsurprisingly, she was out of breath when she reached the top.

Steve waited for her to reach his side, looking nervously sideways at her before slowly reaching for the door knob. Charley held her breath expecting a metal fist to come out of nowhere, he had no idea he would be expecting guests.

But when the door opened fully and they hadn't been punched yet, she knew the apartment was empty.

Steve still took cautious steps into the apartment; keep one arm behind him to make sure Charley stayed following his steps closely. Charley surveyed the apartment, gasping at the state it was in. She hadn't expected much from the building by just looking at it from the outside but seeing it first hand and knowing this was how Bucky had been living the past year… She didn't want to think about it.

The walls were a musky brown, decaying and dusty. She felt the crumble of her heart when she saw a dirty old mattress on the floor stashed in the corner. Empty wrappers of quick snack food were left around the apartment and a half unfinished pizza box was piled on top of maps and books.

Realizing he definitely wasn't there, Steve dared move in further reaching out a tentative hand for a small journal. Charley's eyes widened at the sight of it and she stepped around Steve, snatching it off of him, peering at the journal closely before Steve could protest.

It was worn now, the spine had splintered in places and the once smooth edges were now rough. Pages were tipping out. Her grip tightened on the book and she had to close her eyes to stop herself from crying.

"I- I got this for him," her voice cracked, "I didn't know he still had it, I didn't even know he took it with him."

She flicked through the pages seeing the pamphlet to the Captain America museum they went too, stuck in at the edge messily, the corners folded. The book was pretty full now, random words were scruffily scrambled across the pages as if he had been in a hurry to write them. She instantly recognized his writing; he always flicked his _e's_ in the same clumsy way. Tracing a hand over them she remembered she'd rudely snatched it away from Steve and went to close the book but her hand swiped across one falling out page that she went to tuck back inside but noticed the texture was not the same as paper but rather the glossy texture of a photo.

Wiping a tear away she pulled it out. She distinctively heard Sam calling through hers and Steve's ear piece to hurry up but she ignored it, unfolding the picture to see it was one of her and Bucky. The picture they'd taken in the museum that one time. She still laughed at how moody he looked, but she loved it. She could tell from the folds that it had been closed and re-opened many times over the past year. The colour even slowly fading from the picture.

Steve tapped her shoulder and she shook herself out of it, pocketing the journal before spinning around. Her heart clenched when she saw Bucky standing there across the room, having snuck in like the perfect assassin he was.

"Charley?" Bucky frowned, looking from Steve to her with a mixture of confusion, "what are you doing here?"

A smile tugged at her mouth as she took a step, planning to hug him but Steve held out an arm stopping her, "You know who we are?"

Bucky eyed Steve's arm dangerously which was held protectively out in front of Charley. She knew what Steve was doing, of course, he still wasn't convinced Bucky hadn't been brainwashed by Hydra, "She's Charley and you're Steve. I read about you in a museum."

Raising her eyebrows at him, Charley knocked Steve's arm out of the way. He gave up as Charley ran at Bucky, flinging her arms around Bucky. He took a while to respond, but she slowly felt his metal arm curve around hers as he buried his face into her shoulder.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered so only she could hear.

"They've set the perimeter," Sam's voice called through her ear piece as Charley backed away from Bucky. He seemed to hear as he stared intently at her ear for a second, "have you turned into an agent or something in the past year?"

"No," she attempted to laugh but sobered quickly, "We're here because of Vienna"

"I wasn't in Vienna," Bucky said, "You know I don't do that anymore"

"I know-"

"Well the people that think you do are coming here now, and they're not planning on taking you alive," Steve stepped forward breaking the two apart. Charley held out an arm towards Steve.

"Steve," She said in a low voice, "We need to get him out of here."

"How are we going to do that?"

"I don't know but he hasn't done anything. He's being set up, you must know that"

"They'll kill him if he doesn't go quietly"

"And you know he'll be locked up for life if he does… and I'm not going to let that happen" Charley's glare hardened and Steve took a deep breath and she could see his mind working to come up with a solution. Both focused on the matter neither of them saw Bucky heave a sigh and back away from them, taking his glove off of his metal arm.

Another warning from Sam came through the comms.

"You and Buck together can take everyone down, right?" She practically begged him but his eyes had turned to Bucky with concern. She followed his stare and saw Bucky's exposed fist.

"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Buck."

"It always ends in a fight," He mumbled, "Make sure she gets out alive. Focus on her and I'll get out on my own"

"What then Bucky!" Charley demanded, spinning on her heel to grab his wrist, "are you just going to disappear again?"

"It's for the best, for everyone"

"not for me it isn't!"

"you pulled me from the river!" Steve reminded him desperately, "Why?"

 _5 seconds_

"Why!"

 _3 seconds_

"I don't know."

A sudden crackle of glass pulled their attention away from the moment. Before Charley had time to register what it was, she felt her arm being pinched as she was pulled back behind Bucky, his legs kicking out desperately to kick away the grenade that had suddenly been thrown into the room.

Realising what it was Charley shielded behind Bucky but Steve managed to slam his shield down, blocking the explosion.

"What do we do," Charley turned to Bucky for advice on what to do.

"Get out," Bucky shouted as the windows cracked even more, men swinging through them "Get out, no matter what."

Once again Charley was sloppily pulled behind Bucky. But he couldn't keep a hand on her for long when the combat began. There were too many in the room for both Steve and Bucky to deal with single handily, even despite their super soldier strength.

Bucky was fighting two and Charley saw and opening and dived to the floor, swinging her leg as she used her arm for support, swiftly knocking the guard off of his feet. She used his falling body as a crutch to pull herself up.

When she was back on her feet she turned to see Bucky staring at her with bewildered eyes

"Where the hell did you learn to do that!" Bucky cried to her as they worked together to fight off the last opponent. Bucky punching them in the gut whilst Charley used to wall and his back as leverage, swung herself up and kicked the police officer in the face as he doubled over from the punch. Knocking him down cold.

"Natasha. She's a way better teacher than you, no offence." Natasha's fighting tactic was much better suited to Charley with her small figure than Bucky's fist and punch approach. She wasn't good enough to swing her legs in the air around a person's throat yet, but she was sure with a bit of practise she'd be able to.

Suddenly, Bucky picked up a chair and swung it at the door. The only way for them to get out. The door slammed shut, perfectly wedging the police from getting in.

It gave them a little bit of time as Charley waited to get her breath back. Her stamina was still shit. She didn't think that could be improved, especially since she'd been out of practise for a full on year. Bucky used his metal arm to punch down at the floor and pull out a backpack.

"Buck- Stop," Steve held onto his arm," you're going to kill someone"

"He's not going to kill anyone, Steve," Charley stepped forward but regretted it instantly as she could feel a stitch growing at her side and had to hold onto the side table for support.

" _Why_ are you here?" Bucky span around with an unexpected glare at Charley, "I get it was because of what happened in Vienna but why are you up here. It's too dangerous."

"The world was calling you a killer, Bucky, I couldn't just sit back. We needed to find you"

He couldn't seem to argue with that, as Charley knew, he understood _why_ she was there. He'd have done the exact same for her.

"Why did you let her come?"

"It wasn't his choice," Charley fired back as Steve went to answer, cutting him off. All of them were cut off however from a banging on the door, "look there's no point arguing, we need to get out of here. You must have had an exit plan. You always have one"

"I never expected you to be here," Bucky glared at Charley, ignoring Steve entirely and she could see he was beginning to get annoyed, "my plan was to jump out of the window. I can't do that with you"

"What!" Charley exclaimed, "what kind of plan is that! Kill yourself"

Rolling his eyes, he said, "not like that. There's a building opposite"

"Ooh."

The door was banged into again and Charley felt a sudden surge of protectiveness for Bucky come over her.

"Go. Jump, go with the original plan"

"I'm not leaving you"

"Me and Steve will get out on our own"

"It doesn't matter now, they're coming in," Steve told them as he took his fighting stance, holding up his shield to his front before the door fell in completely. Bucky didn't wait around as before the door crushed to the floor Bucky flung a brick at the entering police and ran out of the room. Shots could be heard firing But Bucky pulled up his arm to deflect the bullets.

Charley followed after him, jumping over the bodies of the police and running down the stairs to chase him as he knocked the police down, one by one.

One of the men got up but Charley easily kicked out and send him flailing his arms down the stairs. Steve was right behind her as her arm was suddenly pinched and she was swung behind his shield, a deadly array of bullets could be heard being deflected off of the shield.

"Be careful," Steve told her seriously before leaving her, jumping over the balcony of the stairs like the super gymnast he was. Bucky was already a floor down and Charley dashed after him, having to run one step at a time, unlike the super soldiers. However she was quicker than the boys due to most of the police having been taken down by them, meaning a swift quick route down the stairs.

Steve was caught up trying to catch one of the officers being thrown over the balcony and Charley took this opportunity to run after him and catch up with Bucky who kicked at a door. It fell straight off of its hinges with one clean hit.

"Stay with Steve," Bucky told her, not bothering to turn around knowing she was there, "he'll protect you."

"I'm more concerned with protecting you"

Bucky glared at her but went over to the open window, "How many more men are coming up the stairs?"

Charley ran back to the staircase seeing about fifteen more men begin running up the stairs, merely four floors away. They wouldn't take long.

"Roughly fifteen, maybe more."

Bucky licked his lips quickly thinking.

"Buck just jump, you can make it."

"And leave you?"

"Just do it. You need to get away"

Bucky shook his head and assessed the jump again before turning back to Charley in a mad rush, "Get on my back"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"You know I do"

"Then you need to get on my back"

"Why?"

He cringed, clearly not wanting to say which made Charley only panic as she put two and two together, "You want me to get on your back so you can jump out of a fucking window."

"It's the only way we both get out"

"No it's not," She shook her head, "You go"

"Then you'll get shot!"

"It's not like you've cared for the last year!" Charley shouted, not meaning to raise her voice but it made Bucky blink rapidly.

"I did care," His voice cracked, "why did you think I went away"

"Look now is not the time to talk about this," She could now hear the stomping of lots of men running up the stairs in a hurry, "Turn around," She instructed with a hurried tone as she tapped his shoulder, "if it's the only way to get out of here".

She could practically see Bucky smirking as she clambered onto his back ungracefully but when she had her arms secured around his waist and neck there was no time to loose.

"What about Steve?"

"He'll be fine." Bucky said finally and Charley could feel herself being bumped up and down as Bucky started doing a small lead up run, slowly getting faster and faster and the window neared. Just as his feet met the edge of the window Charley closed her eyes and cradled Bucky nearer, the pit of her stomach dropped and she could feel gravity starting to take effect, her hair going upwards and her feet feeling like they were about to fall off.

She dared open her eyes seeing the building opposite near. She let out a small scream when she thought they'd missed but Bucky managed to grab onto the side of the building with a crash. Charley's head rattle backwards in a whiplash and she felt the ache in her neck instantly.

Groaning as he pulled them up, she jumped off his back instantly to plant her feet back on solid ground but they were still on the edge and she looked over and was almost sick looking at how high up they still were.

"Okay, how do we get down now?" She turned to Bucky as she backed away from the edge, Bucky following close behind her, making no time to start a conversation as he grabbed her hand and began to run.

She noticed Bucky slowing his pace down to keep up with her and she tried her hardest to speed up, but even her quickest was his slowest. She pushed even further, letting go of Bucky's hand to use her arms to give herself some more thrust when suddenly Bucky was thrown out of the way. Running so fast, Charley had to skid to stop as she turned around and saw another masked man hidden in what she could only call a black cat suit.

She gasped as claws appeared from the tips of the fingers, diving at Bucky who rolled out of the way.

"Run!" he yelled at her but Charley instead launched herself at the cat man, lifting her legs up so she was on his back, her arms going around his neck but he easily shrugged her off and she fell down with a hard slap to her back on concrete floor

"Stay out of this or I'll be forced to kill you too," the cat man spoke to her in a deep recognizable voice which she couldn't quite place. Startled, Charley looked around for some sort of weapon as the mysterious man began to turn back around to Bucky who was wobbling to get back up from the floor. In an attempt to stop Bucky from being killed, Charley got up quickly and took another dive but was once again thrown off, this time more violently as she was thrown head first. Luckily she had a split second before impact and used her hands to block the fall, preventing a head injury as she collapsed onto the concrete flooring in a heap.

Panicked, she heard a rapid gasp for air from Bucky. She looked up to see him on his back with the cat man attempting to push down his claws at Bucky as he tried desperately to pull away from them.

Before she could react, suddenly Charley's ears were blocked as a helicopter rounded the corner, firing bullets down at the two men. She darted out of the way behind a concrete slab hearing the timely sound of the helicopter's wings faltering. She dared to look around and saw Falcon speeding towards her.

Before she had a second to question what was happening Sam grabbed her by her coat and pulled her upwards.

"Sorry Cap's orders," Sam said as he suddenly dived to avoid the failing helicopter that was struggling to stay in the sky.

"What order?" She shouted up at him, looking back at the rooftop where Bucky managed to pull the cat man off of him. She saw him desperately look around for her but his eyes squinted as he caught her in the sky and he began to run again before the other guy could get the best of him.

"To get you away," Sam said, "Sorry. I don't think he was expecting you to jump off a building with Barnes"

"I detest this," Charley groaned, trying to wiggle free but slightly fearful of the a hundred foot drop below her and decided to keep still as Sam swooped lower. When he was five feet away from the ground he swiftly dropped her so she landed clumsily on her knees by a sea of traffic that had been disrupted by the shootings.

Sam didn't hang around as he flew off again and Charley was left alone in the middle of an unknown city, whilst people were trying to kill her boyfriend.

She had no idea what to do. She span around trying to find out where everyone had gone and saw helicopters flying in the sky all happening to go in the same direction. Taking off into a sprint she found there was a limp in her steps, her leg suddenly screaming in pain from being thrown off by a man in a cat suit.

As she ran she clicked her ear piece on to see if it still worked. Crackles could be heard at the other end but she gave a breath of relief when Steve's voice mixed with police sirens come through.

"Oi you," She yelled through the ear piece, "I thought I was your sidekick on this one"

"I'm sorry but you were both getting beaten by that other guy, I knew I could get you out of there," she could clearly hear he was gasping for air, out of breath.

"Where are you now?"

"Speeding down a road with a stolen car"

"Nice." She smirked but her tone turned sober, "where is Bucky?"

"Ahead on a bike"

"Just make sure he's safe."

"I will but I'm-" Steve cut off for a second as she could hear a loud screeching sound and Charley cringed, "I'm getting chased by a lot of people."

The link cut off abruptly and Charley had lost sight of the helicopters and had come to a halt. They were in a car chase, there was no way she'd catch up now. She mindlessly walked over to the side of the road, exhaustion hitting her as she swiped her wrist over her forehead, sweat rapidly dripping. Collapsing on the pavement she finally took a breath of air, trusting Steve to get Bucky back in one piece.

Her rest was short lived however as out of the corner of her eye she saw a police car swerve, blocking the street. She looked to the other side of the street and saw the exact same thing. She was closed in. Guns were raised at her. Fear rose in her chest as she raised her hands above her head but the effort to do so was tiring.

"Do not try anything," one of them yelled at her with an accent. She nodded once, feeling herself being grabbed from behind, her arms suddenly restricted as they were handcuffed together. She didn't try to fight but was rather carried away to one of the police cars hearing one of the men say down their radios, "we've got her"

"Bring her in." Said another voice.


	33. Civil War: Who the hell is Bucky

**Chapter 33:**

The journey to Berlin was stressful. The whole time her hands were bound in handcuffs and she was told there was restricted contact with anyone. She figured, somewhere on the plane was Steve and Sam. Her first question always whenever she saw a person walk past the room in which she was being kept was, "Where is Bucky and Steve?" yet no one answered her, under strict instructions to ignore her questioning. Eventually after an hour of demanding, she gave up and complied, sitting still and quietly like they wanted her to.

When she felt the plane land she was dragged off but could only see the clear air as a dozen or so officers pulled her from the plane to a van. Her heat dared to jump into her throat as a gut wrenching pull in her stomach made her legs shake. Them dragging her was the only reason she kept moving, her feet moving on involuntary commands. She was shoved into a van and with a breath of relief she realized she was reunited with Steve, sitting beside her.

A smile released onto her face but she realized she couldn't hug him. A chain barrier was in between each of their seats, she noticed Sam behind her giving her a small thumbs up and the guy in the cat suit in front of her, now with no mask.

Not wanting to pay any attention to the cat man she was now silently thankful that there was a fence between the two of them so he wouldn't attack her again.

Turning to Steve as an array of questions formed into her mind, she asked, "What the bloody hell happened?"

Steve continued looking straight ahead at the vast distance of the airport where the plane had landed, as the van's engine suddenly roared to life. She looked out of the windows to see about ten SUV's lining up behind them as they began to move, "is all of this necessary!"

"I couldn't catch up to him; Bucky was determined to get away"

"Did he get away?" Charley span around hopefully, "Please say he got away"

"No."

"Where is he?"

"I don't know."

"Where are we?"

"Berlin, I think they said"

Her heart was racing again as the van drove out of the airport. She noticed pedestrians on the street stopping to stare at the suspicious cars and vans all lined up driving past with a curious wonderment. She never thought she'd be in a situation like this.

She brought up her hands. They were still handcuffed together and the restriction was beginning to get to her, hoping they'd take them off soon. Steve noticed her pathetically pulling at them and sighed wistfully, "don't waste your energy, just leave them on."

"What do they think I'm going to be able to do? I'm basically a civilian"

Sam frowned, "You took down at least twenty guys back in that apartment. You ain't no civilian anymore."

" _Great_." Charley dropped her hands back to her lap with a defeated scowl and settled for leaning up against the widow, banging her head against the glass agitated. She'd never been to Berlin, nor had she ever really felt any desire to, but she had at least expected that if she ever had, it would be under different circumstances. Her scenery was suddenly blocked by a SUV pulling up beside them on a two lane road, boxing the van in. She rolled her eyes and trained them instead on the cat guy in front of her. He hadn't attempted at saying anything the whole journey and stayed with his eyes level in front of him.

"Who is he?" She said, not bothering to whisper, all her care had gone. This guy _had_ attacked her and Bucky.

"Cat man," Sam responded dryly, "He likes cats-"

"-Sam," warned Steve.

"What? Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't want to know more"

Charley saw Steve resist the urge to roll his eyes at Sam but kept staring at the cat guy instead. Realising she still hadn't gotten an answer as to who exactly this man was she pressed further, "Who are you?" she said, this time she peered slightly over in her seat, directing her question at him.

His head twitched a little to the side but he didn't bother turning around fully. It was then that she noticed his hands were cuffed together likes her, Steve and Sam's were.

"T'challa."

"He's Prince of Wakanda"

"Oh shit." The words escaped Charley's lips as she shuffled back into her seat a bit, suddenly unnerved by the guy, "So is this like a thing. Cat suits?" She turned to Steve, "Is everyone I'm going to meet from now on a superhero or someth-"

"The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle passed from warrior to warrior," Charley gave a sideways glance to Steve to gauge his reaction but no emotion flickered over them, "And now, because your friend murdered my father... I also wear the mantle of king. So, I ask you... as both warrior and king... how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

"He didn't do anything…" She glared.

"- Charley," Steve said slowly, his hand raised only slightly as a gesture to keep quite. Feeling there was no point in arguing she went back to the window, leaning her forehead against it so she could see the outstretch of the sky, despite the SUV still beside them.

She wondered if Bucky was in one of the cars beside them.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The van pulled up inside a base, having gone through an underground entrance. She took in her surroundings as she was pulled by her shoulder from the van. As she was taken to join alongside Steve, she noticed a massive container being brought in. Her eyes widened further when she realized Bucky was inside it, his hands clasped down by metal strips, unable to move.

"What the fuck," Charley growled under her breath. She tried to catch Bucky's eye but he kept his head down with a dead expression. She Span around to face the first person who looked like they were of a high position. She was caught off guard, however, when she turned and saw Sharon Cartrer standing there beside a man dressed in a grey suit. Not expecting to see anyone she recognized, she shook off this shock and strode forward and attempted at pointing at Bucky but her hands were still cuffed together and had to nod instead, "Why is he locked up like that?"

"-Charley, it's okay," She felt Steve put an arm on her shoulder. It was then that she realized that Sam, T'Challa and Steve all had their handcuffs off and she didn't. She looked bitterly down at them.

The guy in the grey suit apparently saw this as he explained, "We don't know who you are, you're a known associate of the Winter Soldier we can't know for sure how you will react, and we'll be interviewing you first. Excuse the handcuffs," he said in an annoyingly calm manner, "As for why he's locked up, it's for the same reason"

"What's going to happen to him?"

"Same thing that ought to happen to you. Psychological evaluation and extradition."

"and what does extradition mean?" Charley stared dumbfound at the man but Sharon cut across her.

"This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander," Not feeling like giving any respect to this so called _Commander_ , she continued to glare, receiving a warning glance from Sharon as she crossed her arms, "Miss Weller, if you'd like to be escorted this way, we'd like to question you"

"Sure…" She shrugged, although felt a little resistant to move away from Steve and Sam. She had no idea where she was, in a random country... against her will. Feeling someone nudge her shoulder, _again_ , she gave Steve one last look of panic before giving in and following the direction she was being pushed.

"Where are you taking her?" she heard Steve asked as she was pulled further away from them.

Her eyes drew to Bucky who had finally looked up and was following her as she walked out of the room. She gave him a small smile, which wasn't returned as he stared at her with a wave of concern.

"Where am I going?" She asked the woman in a military uniform escorting her.

"A spare interrogation room."

"Can we take these off," She held up her hands hoepfully.

"Once we get there."

Knowing she wasn't going to get out anymore conversation from the stern looking military woman she decided to keep her eyes trained on the ground, watching her feet as they pathetically scoffed along the floor. They continued to walk further and Charley felt the distance between her and Steve grow, the further she walked the more out of her comfort zone she was taken.

Her shoulder was grabbed again, pulling her to a fast halt.

"Charlotte," her head whipped up so fast as she saw Natasha Romanoff striding towards her, her hands clasped behind her back in a professional manner, "I did warn Steve not to bring you" Natasha chided but pulled her into a hug anyway. Unable to hug back, Charley awkwardly placed her head on Natasha's shoulder.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just to check whether you were okay," Charley frowned as the girls pulled apart, wondering why she wasn't checking on Steve first but Natasha showing kindness wasn't the most surreal thing to happen to her today so she let it slide, "Let's get straight to it, you're going to go in there and they're probably going to ask you some questions you don't want to answer. Answer them as best you can. They aren't the bad guys"

She narrowed her eyes, carefully looking at Natasha, "I know…" She started slowly, trying not to stutter over her words as her nerves bubbled up, "But they've imprisoned Bucky."

"Barnes had to answer for his crimes one day," Natasha said, looking as if she was trying to be delicate with her words as she chose them carefully, "We all have too, one way or another. This is how it works now."

"He didn't do anything"

"We believe Hydra has gotten hold of him and wiped his mind again, making him their minion. It doesn't mean it's right but it's what has happened. Otherwise how else do we explain the bombing at the signing."

"He wasn't-"

"Are we ready?" Charley and Natasha's conversation was put to a dead end by a man dressed in a formal suit, reading glasses low on his nose with a natural impatient stare.

Natasha gave her a single nod as Charley was guided in to a simple cold feeling interrogation room. Everything seemed to be made of steel with metal walls and a metal desk centre with a chair nailed down to the floor. As she took a seat someone unlocked her handcuffs and she allowed herself a moment to stretch her arms out, relishing in the momentary freedom.

"We've had some trouble with you Miss Weller," the interrogator gave her a false toothy smile as he set down a file on the desk, her name typed out on the front of it in bold thick letters. She tried to lean forward to get a look at it, not realizing she was worthy enough of a file to herself, but shrunk back into her seat again when he quickly snatched it away onto his lap, seeing her peeking, "You've been under her radar for quite some time"

"Why? I've not done anything."

"About a year ago you were found with a phone containing pictures of you and Mr Barnes, however you managed to worm your way out of dealing with that situation."

"I honestly didn't do anything," she defended, it had been Steve who got her out of that as she'd managed to avoid all questioning.

The interviewer seemed to ignore her, "And then about a week after that you were in a car crash, caused by ex-Hydra agents where Barnes was once again present," He narrowed his eyes through his spectacles. Charley squirmed in her seat, feeling as if she was being closely observed and analysed, "Now we find you here again with Mr Stark revealing information that you had been harbouring the winter soldier for a full year after he disappeared from the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Of course Tony had snitched on her. She rolled her eyes but realized she was being observed and relaxed her facial expression instantly, feeling his stare burn into her.

"That's true," She decided to be honest. They knew it all anyway, what was the point in lying, perhaps if she told the truth they'd realize Bucky wasn't as much of a monster as they were making him out to be.

"Care to elaborate?" He pulled out his files onto the table again and peered over them with stubby hands, "it says here you were working for a clothing line in America a year ago. Seems you were quite a regular civilian, how did you manage to get involved in all of this?"

There was a danger to his tone and Charley found herself gulping in his presence. She took a deep breath, preparing to tell the whole truthful story when he added, "Are you perhaps an ex-Hydra agent? Would make sense, many agents had double lives crossed over with their Hydra ones in case they need to make a quick escape"

"What- no-" Charley gaped at him. They really had been talking to Tony Stark if they were buying the whole 'she was a spy' story, "No I am certainly not an ex-Hydra agent. I met Bucky about two years ago in the store I worked for. He came in looking for clothes and I helped him"

"And then offered a famous terrorist your home to live in?" A questioning eyebrow was raised.

"It wasn't like that," Charley glared, "He _isn't_ like that."

Scrunching his nose up in distaste the man sat back and she could visibly see him thinking of a new tactic to take with questioning with her. Charley frowned and looked up at the mirror glass facing directly opposite her and wondered whether Natasha was behind there watching.

"You were well trained back at Barnes's apartment," He said, peering closer again, "Tell me if you aren't some Hydra agent, how did you come by learning to do that?"

"Bucky," She admitted, "He thought it best for my safety and Natasha Romanoff"

"Romanoff?"

"I stayed at the Avengers base for a-"

"Yes, as Stark has informed us"

 _Bloody Stark._ She grumbled inwardly.

"What exactly is your relationship with Barnes?"

She flinched at the question as she knew he had caught her doing it. What was she supposed to say? How was this of any relevance to what they were trying to get from her? Despite trying to be as honest as possible she didn't want to divulge her relationship with Bucky to a government person who she had never met before.

"That's none of your business."

"Miss Weller you are facing up to a lifetime of imprisonment for harbouring a known Hydra agent-"

"Bucky was not a Hydra Agent!" She shouted back at him, slapping her hand onto her leg in frustration, "Bucky was under Hydra's control without his consent after having his mind wiped of all his memories. He is not responsible for everything he did! You can't punish him for that!"

There was a moment of stillness that passed through the room, she could practically see the tension swell. The interrogator paused, his hand half way to opening her file when his eyes fell on her, narrowing them to a glare. Charley collected herself quickly, trying to control the redness in her face as she got her bearings together and forced herself to calm down. But she'd about had enough. Having travelled half way across the world, hands in cuffs and her boyfriend now in a metal and glass cell. She wasn't happy.

"What have you been doing in the past year, since Barnes left?"

Feeling this wasn't a dangerous question to answer she bowed her head and answered honestly as she could, "I've been working part-time on a film set, building up my career"

"In film?"

"Yes."

"And what happened to that career?"

"I had to help Bucky as soon as I heard he was in trouble."

"If you felt this responsibility to him, what exactly was your relationship?"

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The battle of questions was thrown back and forth. She still gave no real answer to what their relationship was, but the interrogator seemed to have a strong idea as he quickly jotted down notes into her file and quickly slapping it closed again before Charley had the edge to look over and read.

Now no longer deemed a threat as she made it abundantly clear she wasn't a Hydra agent, she was allowed to sit with Steve and Sam for the remainder of their time here until they figured out what to do with her.

Steve and Sam were being held in a glass office, able to see all the screens where Bucky was restrained. Sam was scratching at the top of the glass table, not once looking up when she entered the room. Steve however, turned to give her a small smile, one laced with concern.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve gestured around them where agents walked past the glass office; she saw Natasha and Tony Stark outside their backs turned to them.

"Not your fault," Charley shrugged tiredly, taking a seat opposite Sam and laying her head on her elbow which rested against the table like a child, "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Steve blew out his cheeks, sighing, "Tony's insistent I sign the accords. He's sure we won't get prosecuted though-"

"-Bucky?" Charley lifted her head up hopefully, her eyes instantly darting to the screen where Bucky was being watched by a dozen agents. Steve didn't answer straight away and Charley knew that not getting prosecuted wouldn't include him, "what will happen to him?"

"Imprisonment."

"What? No."

"I don't know what else to do," Steve shrugged hopelessly, "There's more. The plan for you is to deport you back to England and restrict your movement from England to America."

"Meaning?"

Steve jaw tightened, "meaning you won't be able to come back to America for a good while."

"Where will Bucky be?" Charley rose defensively, feeling her cheeks flame red. When she heard Steve almost silently mumble the word 'America', she was fully prepared to get up and stride over to the highest figure here and demand a different outcome but she knew that would do no good so did the next thing that she could, and sat back down again, shrinking into the soft leather seat as tears melted around the edges of her eye, "They can't do this." Looking to Steve she pleaded, "Can't you do something."

Steve heaved a heavy sigh, "I don't know, it's out of our hands at the moment."

She buried her face into her arms until she was able to breath properly. She felt Sam lift his hand and place them comfortingly on hers. Was she never going to see him again? Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of the screen again where Bucky sat, alone.

All this time wondering if having a normal life with him was possible… all of it wasted.

She shook a little until she managed to take control of her emotions, sitting up again and brushing a hand under her eye to wipe the few tears that fell. She could fall apart later, now was the time to work out what the hell they were going to do about it.

"Has he said anything?" She gave a slight nod the screen where she saw someone enter into the room with Bucky and sit at the table opposite. Unconsciously her hands drifted down to her collar where Bucky's dog tags stayed hidden behind her shirt.

"We can't hear anything," Sam said as Sharon entered the room holding a file.

"The receipt for your gear."

Sam looked over it as his face scrunched up in distaste, "bird costume? Come on."

"I didn't write it," Sharon put her hands up defensively. Charley frowned between them realizing neither of them where in costume, nor had their weapons on them. She wondered where they'd gone for a brief moment before Sam explained.

"They took all of our stuff."

"But they're yours"

"Now they're the governments," Sharon said and Charley tried hard not to scoff, done with this government business. They'd already taken everything from her. Sharon sent her a sympathetic look before carefully looking around and sneakily pressing something on the table. Charley watched her closely, wondering what she was doing as a screen popped up inside the glass office building showing Bucky.

"I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions," Said the person who had been sent in to analyse Bucky's behaviour. Charley smiled slightly at the half contact she felt she now had with Bucky and got up from her chair to get a closer inspection of the screen. He was still wearing the same clothes as before, but she could now see the metal bars crossed across his arms, pinning him down, in much more detail, "Do you know where you are James?"

There was a pause and no response from Bucky. Charley had to double take, sometimes forgetting Bucky's _actual name_ was James.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James"

"My name is Bucky."

Feeling an overwhelming amount of emotion overcome her Charley took a step back, away from the screen and took refuge back onto the leather chair before she fell over from a head rush. For the first time since it came on, Steve turned to look at her with concern.

"You okay?"

Nodding curtly, both became sucked to the screen again, but were caught off guard as the questioner said, "I'm just going to ask you a few questions."

"I'm not answering anything until I know Charley's fine"

"Who?"

Bucky remained glaring at the so called psychologist.

Charley could only see the back of the interviewer but could make out glasses supported at the end of his nose, a computer and files spread out in front of him, but her eyes were soon back on Bucky. She hadn't seen him for a year and now the only contact she had with him was through a screen where he couldn't even see her.

"Do you think they'll let me see him?" Charley nudged Steve on the arm, "Maybe if he refuses to answer they'll give in and let me see him."

"I can ask Tony for you, see if he can pull a few string."

She doubted that, "Tony wouldn't do anything for me"

"Who's Charley?" The interviewer pushed again but received nothing but a cold stale stare, "This is a psychological assessment, I need you to comply in order to get a few evaluations."

Biting her lip at the choice of wording; _Comply_. Charley found herself turning to Sharon.

"Is there anything you can do?"

"I already helped you before; I don't know what else I can do without putting my job on the line. I'm sorry," Sharon frowned.

"It's okay," She replied, turning back to the screen and waiting nervously for the assessment to continue.

"I'm not answering anything until I know she's safe."

"He's not going to give in," Sam said.

Before anyone could respond, however, Everett Ross appeared, peering his head in the doorway with a single gesture for Charley to stop forward. She looked towards Steve first for confirmation to follow and with a single nod from him she took a step towards the door, her hands nervously sweating.

"Let me see him." She said clearly as soon as she neared the doorway, "He'll answer your questions afterwards."

"We're going to allow you five minutes tops, with no contact," Ross narrowed his eyes at her as if in a warning to follow with his instruction, "The only reason we're allowing this is because he is refusing to answer questions." She didn't like the warning glare he gave her, but knew if this was the only way she would see Bucky again, she'd have to agree. She gave a short nod to the head before following him out of the room just as the man on the screen said, "you've seen a great deal, haven't you."

Ross rounded up five men to take her down. For the first time in a day, whenever she was escorted anywhere, they didn't manhandle her, but took a side of her each and made sure she remained in the centre of them, with the leader of the pack holding a gun. She looked at it nervously before deciding not to worry about it. She'd seen worse, and this was a government organizing, they were just doing their jobs.

Before she left the room she caught eyes with Natasha who attempted at giving her a comforting smile, Tony beside her doing nothing but roll his eyes at her nervous shake.

The walk to Bucky's room felt like it took forever, they took a lift, rounded three corners of long corridors. It might have been because they were walking at snail pace since Charley was unable to take more than two feet without tripping up the person in front of her.

As the rounded the fourth corner, the lights suddenly snapped off, engulfing them in darkness. The men around her pulled out guns from their pockets and their eyes darted around the space in panic. There was no light in the corridor other than a flashing red which span around, giving Charley a head ache.

"Stay with her, we'll check on Barnes," The leader called to the rest of the group, leading three away with guns. Charley tucked her arms beneath her as the other men with her swarmed around her small form, preparing their guns.

"What's happened?"

No one answered her but one of them lifted their radio to speak to the control room.

"We've gone dark, is Barnes still in containment?"

The fuzz of the radio came and a panicked voice came from the other end, "we don't know. CCTV is down."

Gulping, Charley peered around the guards shoulders to look up the corridor to where to presumed Bucky was being held. Suddenly, there was an ear splitting scream, crying for help, and she backed away her hands instinctively going into a closed fist position.

"What the hell is happening," Charley rounded on the guards beside her, but they looked just as lost as she did when one of the men from before was suddenly thrown into the hallway, their back hitting the wall with a loud crunch, "fuck!" Charley roared taking a double step back as one of the guards darted forward to check if the other was okay.

Out of nowhere a metal arm appeared and grabbed the guard, tossing them backwards in one swift move. Screaming, Charley darted forward to try to stop him but saw the murderous rage in Bucky's eyes as he looked at her, as if without seeing.

She heard gunshots from behind and quickly ducked out of the way, shielding her head with her hands. The winter soldier was quick to bring up his arm and block the bullet. It ricocheted, hitting the wall from behind.

"Stop firing, you'll kill him!" Charley screamed at the officer behind her who was baffled by her words of defence, only momentarily, stopping him firing from shock. This gave Bucky the perfect opportunity to attack, picking up a gun from one of the already injured guards and firing it at the only standing one left, "NO!" Charley cried, the guard falling, a bullet hitting him centre of the skull. She ran forwards towards Bucky but was stopped as his shaking hand slowly turned the gun on her. She let out a shaky breath, "Buck… it's me. _You know me_."

She saw Bucky's hand on the gun tighten. Her throat was caught in her mouth but she struggled to force out more words, hoping the more she spoke the more he'd recognize her... and the less he'd kill her, "What happened in there? This isn't you Bucky. _Please_ listen to me."

The Winter Soldier's face scrunched up in anger and confusion before he let out a roar of rage, throwing the gun to the side but belting his metal fist at her instead. Charley had just enough time to duck but heard the crunch of concrete as he hit the wall behind her, small bits of rubble flew everywhere.

"It's me!" Charley tried again, spinning under his arm so they swapped position, "My name is Charley! You were asking for me just seconds ago. Please-"

Her words were cut off by her screaming as Bucky dived at her again. This time he sent a kick at her, hitting her gut. With one blow she was thrown against the wall opposite, her head whiplashing back and smashing into the wall making her head spin around. With a blurry vision she saw Bucky preparing to storm towards her again. Panicking she racked her mind of what to do. The only item near her was the gun on the floor but there was no way she could pick it up and fire at him, so instead she jumped out of the way, racking her brain quickly for any weaknesses.

 _Someone will come soon,_ Charley thought hopefully, screaming as he tripped her leg up and she fell onto the floor swiftly, this time her back receiving the brunt of the injury, "Bucky please don't do this."

His cold eyes loomed over her. They were unrecognizable. She let out a final breath of air as his metal arm cut her off around her neck. Feeling the lack of oxygen she began banging onto his chest for release but he wouldn't budge, barely feeling her slaps. Her arms grew increasingly weak and she desperately crawled her hands up to his chest, lightly pushing now, unable to do anything else.

Her mind suddenly flashing back to the gym where they used to train as he went through his weaknesses with her;

 _"If I'm hit in between here, perfectly, it can cause a malfunction in my arm and stops me being able to control my arm for about ten seconds. You have to hit it perfectly though for it to work, if done right you would have time to get away. Not long, but the pain of the malfunction would bring me out of a relapse," Bucky told her, pointing at a part on his shoulder, just under the red star that was painted on, but rusted over time._

She was starting to see double, clawing desperately for a source of air but found none. Already having stopped slapping him she reached up to his arm and with the last ounce of her energy manage to give him one last whack in the spot she remembered him pointing at, managing to hit right between the metal cavities in his arm.

A sizzling sound came from the metal as it suddenly fell limp. Bucky gave a roar of pain, as with his other hand he fell backwards, clutching his metal one tightly and instantly letting go of her neck. She used this time to crawl backwards, coughing up air. The pounding in her head increasing as it caught up with lost oxygen. When she was far enough away she dived into the room where he had been held, seeing the large container was smashed open, the metal cuffs that had been around his arms easily snapped in half.

On the floor was the psychologist brought in to analyse Bucky. She could still hear Bucky roaring in pain so she took this chance to reach down to the man, who was leaning on the floor like a wounded puppy.

"Sir," Charley cried, reaching down for him and placing a hand on his shoulder, lightly shaking him "Sir, are you hurt? What happened?"

"He got out," He said with a thick accent she didn't recognize, "and went for me."

"Something must have triggered him," She mouthed, looking around for anything that could have caused sounds of lightening or looked similar to the logo of Hydra, "Are you hurt?" She didn't give him a chance to respond as she lifted him up, as he placed an arm over her shoulder for support, "We need to get out of here now."

"How did you stop him?"

"I know him pretty well," Charley shrugged it off, wincing as Bucky continued to shriek in agony and desperate to help him. She told herself that she had to do it, he would have killed her otherwise but his screams just continued to increase and Charley couldn't bare it any longer.

She was about to drop the psychologist and go help Bucky but before she had the chance to, his screams were cut to a halt.. Her and the man wrapped around her shoulders weren't out of the door yet and she suddenly froze where she stood, waiting and listening for any sign of movement.

A tall man with a built posture suddenly strode into the room and Charley raised her hands up ready, letting the man slide off her shoulder back onto the floor. She dropped them, however, when she saw it was only Steve, "Steve, where's Bucky?" she let out a breath of relief.

"Charley get away from that man" Steve ordered and Charley instantly jumped back. Steve dived down and grabbed the man by his collar, pulling him up, "Who are you? What do you want?"

The fearful expression on the psychologist's face dripped off as easy as it was to take a mask off. His tone lowered as he eerily promised, "To see an empire fall."

"Where's Bucky?" Steve rounded on Charley still angry, but she knew he was only panicked. She raised her hands in mock surrender.

"I managed to hinder him outside in the corridor. I thought he was still there."

"Well he's not there anymore."

A sudden yelp from outside gave them a clue as to where Bucky had gone and Charley instantly recognized the scream as Sam's. Steve dropped the mystery man and made a run to save his friend. Charley whipped her head around and saw the man diving upwards to make a grand escape but she refused to let him.

Before he could run past Steve she grabbed him by the collar and pulled him backwards, slamming him into the wall.

"What empire are you talking about?" Charley growled at him, deciding to see what she could get from the man and opting for Steve's style of question asking.

"The Avengers of course," He gave a slight smirk and Charley was satisfied to see he was holding his lip which was bleeding.

"Why? Why target Bucky when you want to bring the Avengers down?"

"Why anything at all…" He leered mysteriously. She was caught off guard as she saw too late him picking up his laptop from the table and using it as a weapon to smash around her head. The metal object collided with her and she was flung onto the table, the man ran to make his planned escape.

"Sam!" Charley cried, seeing him on his knees and holding his stomach in pain, "We need to get after him!"

Sam looked up seeing the man run past him, with a great effort he pushed himself up and the two together began chasing the man who had managed to turn her sweet Bucky back into the mindless killer, prepared to kill _her_.

However she stopped and told Sam to go on when she caught a sight of Bucky's metal arm at the end of the corridor, the opposite side to where the man had ran. Sam didn't argue but sprinted off, leaving her vision.

"BUCKY!" She shouted out, drawing his attention as he span around to face her dangerously.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The Winter Soldier growled back at her. It was then that she realized Steve was no longer in sight, and Bucky was leering down the edge of a broken elevator shaft.

She tried not to focus on the fact he didn't even know who he was and managed to limp closer. His posture was still rigid but it was hard to see with the blinking red light going on and off. She almost expected it to be like a weeping angel… him getting closer and closer as the lights flickered on and off, but she was glad to see he stayed right where he was.

"You're name is Bucky, you said so yourself," She called out, "I'm Charley, you lived with me a year ago. We were friends"

"I don't remember you." Bucky's voice shook dangerously and out of fear Charley froze, not daring to take another step.

"Please remember…" She pleaded with him, "We met over Pizza."

"I don't know who you are," Bucky nose flared up, "get out of my way."

"I'm not in your way," Charley held up a hand in surrender, showing she had no weapon on her.

"How did you know where to hit my arm?"

"You showed me," She fired up quickly before he attacked, "Just in case I ever needed to defend myself against you, you cared whether I was hurt or not"

"I don't remember you," He said again, this time though, softer.

Feeling as if she'd cracked through a layer of the winter soldier, she dared to take a step forward. He tensed but not enough for her to get scared. She kept her hands up, showing she was concealing no weapon and meant no harm.

"Please, I just want to help you."

"Who are you?"

"You know who I am, I'm Charley-" She was about a foot away from him now and she could see his face now. She attempted at smiling at him but she could see he was still cautiously analysing her every step, his eyes washing over her. Mostly over her feet and hands, prepared for an attack.

Bucky seemed to relax but it was short lived as a loud shrieking from the elevator could be heard. Bucky pulled out of his trance as quickly as it had come and let out a shriek, "I don't know who you are!" with his non-metal fist he pushed Charley backwards. Despite it being his weaker hand it managed to knock her back a few paces. Enough for him to make a run for it in the opposite direction.

Still swaying Charley prepared to follow when Steve appeared from the elevator, marks covering his forehead and sweat dripping onto his shirt.

"Steve, what happened?"

"Bucky?" he wheezed the one word question and Charley pointed straight ahead of her in response, indicating where Bucky had gone. She'd never catch up with him now anyway, already exhausted. She'd missed her window of getting through to him. Steve was his only hope of catching him.

Steve began springing off after Bucky without another word and Charley, trying to keep her heart beat under control, used the wall as a crutch, sliding down it, her muscles going limp from the pressure of standing and the adrenaline wearing off.

Slipping in and out of consciousness she finally let it engulf her, the beating in her head subsiding and suddenly she was closed off from the world, drowned in darkness.

She'd tried her best. She wasn't sure what else she could have done.

 **Over 200 reviews! Thank you so much everyone. Also I'm trying hard to make sure this isn't one of those fanfics where it follows the storyline of the movie with the OC only saying a few lines in between lines but if it starts to feel like it's becoming that please let me know.**

 **Donny Donowitz: Thank you ever so much, this review made my day. I hope her progression as a character has been realistic. I didn't want her to suddenly just be able to kick ass, let me know what you think :D**

 **: I'm trying my hardest to update, thanks for your reviews. I love you"**

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 **Guest: Thank you! Sorry for the cliff-hanger last chapter (I'm evil), I suppose this ones not much better in terms of being enigmatic. I'll try and update ASAP.**

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 **marina2351: haha thanks so much for your review and the compliment on my writing. I really appreciate the feedback :D**


	34. Civil War: Under the bridge

**Chapter 34:**

Still dazed from the day's events (or was it even still today?) Charley was curled up in a fetal position, lying on something cold and hard. The door had buzzed a few times, and she heard the squeak of the door open as the sudden life of the government base outside the four walls she had been confined to, came to life as there was rushing of footsteps the fiery conversation and panic as they endlessly danced around trying to solve the issue Bucky had created.

She squeezed her eyes shot every time she heard the buzz, her back already facing away from the door and she had to concentrate on not moving, to keep a heavy rise and fall of her chest. Sometimes she added in a small snore to make it more convincing. After a while they went away and her body fell away relaxed, but not too relaxed. She was sure CCTV was hidden somewhere in the room.

She'd been awake for a few hours now, the pain in her head was her main drive to stay still and lie there for as long as she could get away with but she knew their patience would wear thin and they'd start wanting to ask questions. But she had some questions of her own.

For one where was Bucky? Who had moved her to this room? Number three, where was Bucky? Did Steve get away, or was he being kept somewhere in the base as well? And finally… where the hell was Bucky?

Despite the nagging feeling that something had happened, she remained done with their questioning. She'd already answered as much as she emotionally could. She had a worry they'd exploit her relationship with Bucky, perhaps make her play the perfect damsel in distress and expect Bucky to come back for her. But she had to remind herself this was a government organisation. They weren't allowed to do that and they really were just doing their jobs.

She wanted to roll her eyes, trying to ignore the fact that they might not be the villains, Natasha's words haunting her. It made it so much easier when there was a clear good and bad side to a story.

The door buzzed again, but it was too soon. It had only been five minutes since the last person had left. Or had she fallen asleep again? She didn't think she had. Or maybe they were getting too impatient with her. Nevertheless she stiffened, caught unaware by the sudden sharp noise of the door, the result was only the type of stiffness that couldn't possibly be a person asleep. She waited and prayed they'd walk away but their feet never moved from the door. Just when she thought she'd gotten away with it again as the door closed and she let out a sigh of relief, the footsteps loomed closer and they coughed.

"Charley, we know you're awake," came a female voice, not even trying to conceal her impatience. She would have been alarmed if she didn't recognize the voice.

She held her breath until finally had to suck a gulp of air. Rolling on her side she was met by the sight of dear Sharon Carter, who it seemed impossible she'd only met two days ago. She had her arms crossed in a disapproving manner.

Like a child, Charley curled her legs up to her now sitting up fully. Guarding herself as she wasn't sure if she was supposed to trust Sharon. After all she had only known her a few day.

"What are they going to do now?" Charley asked, studying Sharon carefully but she continued with her arms folded and tapping her feet as if waiting for something like a scolding mother, "I don't want to answer questions about what happened. It was horrible, he forgot me and almost killed me and no, I don't know where he is so unless they plan on torturing things out of me I have nothing to say." She finished it all in one breath, afraid if she paused to take one she'd falter.

"They're not going to do anything if you get up now."

"Why, where am I being taken?"

"Just chill, get up and we can be on our way," Sharon instructed, "We're going to my car."

"What?" Charley's face dropped. Not expecting that, "You're car? Are we going somewhere?"

"To Steve," the sides of her lips folded upwards into a coy smirk. One that could rival Black Widows, she was sure, "we've only got a few minutes though so hurry and get up. I've spiked the CCTV guard's drink so he's asleep, got the boys weapons back and I've got one of these things," from her pocket she pulled out something very small and black. It didn't look like much but she handed it to Charley as if expecting her to know what it was. Charley gave a half-hearted shrug, the movement jarring her head for a moment as it still span, "It can mould your face to look like someone else, just place it behind your ear and click the top button. I don't know who it's programmed to look like so let's hope it's not someone like Everett Ross."

"You mean it could be a man," Charley eyed the device untrustworthy, "I do still have a female body?" distastefully, she looked down questionable at herself, trying to judge whether she did look feminine

"We'll cross that barrier when it comes to it. Just put it on."

Reluctantly Charley brought it up to her ear and squeezed her eyes shut as she clicked the top of it. A strong gush fell over her face as if a wave of make-up had just been applied forming a protective shield, like wearing a mask. She opened her eyes to see Sharon's facial expression who seemed to be nodding.

"She'll do," Sharon shrugged, "Never seen her before. Now I need you to do something for me," Sharon took a step closer, "just act like you belong, don't get all fidgety. Just keep your head held high. We might have to walk past someone like Natasha Romanoff, I've heard she's very perceptive on these types of things. Think you can do that?"

"I'll try," Charley tried smiled but the movement felt weird on her face as she felt her cheeks go up a bit lower. She went to touch her face to feel the difference, annoyed there wasn't a mirror or a reflective object in the room she could look at but Sharon caught her hand.

"You can't touch it. The mask will break."

"Right okay, might have been a nice fact to mention before we left the room."

"Let's go," Sharon gave her a side eye, opening the door.

She was led into the bustle of the government base. People passed her, mostly ignoring her but some gave her a nod or said hello. She became quickly aware that the person whose face she was wearing was called Rebecca. She tried to stick with Sharon's advice, and keep to her promise and keep her head held high. Not too high as to seem suspicious but enough to fit into the environment but it was hard with so many people saying hello. One even passing her a report which she tucked tightly to her chest, gripping on too to stop her nervous shakes as Sharon turned to give her a warning glare.

"I'm fine," She mouthed, trying to add a small smile but it came back as nothing but as a grimace.

Someone caught her arm and she dropped the file she was holding out of surprise. On reflex she turned and clenched up her fists, feeling her muscles stiffen when she turned and saw a man she'd never seen before, smiling from ear to ear, "No need to be so jumpy, babe. It's just me"

Nervously her eyes darted around for Sharon who she hoped was still behind her. She had no idea whether this face mask adapted her voice or not to suit the person so she stood awkwardly with her arm limp in this man's arm, biting her lip.

"Are you alright?" The man bent a little so he was level with her eyes. In any other situation it would have seemed like a sweet gesture but for Charley it made her freeze on the spot from the close proximity, "I know this whole Winter Soldier situation is getting to everyone and it's probably going to be a long shift but we'll find them and when we do we can go home and I promise to de-stress you by any means necessary"

His last words came out in a slur as he leant forward, adding a cheesy wink. Before Charley could turn away he managed to put his lips on hers, his hands snaking down her neck. She was aware they were in a busy office, and wasn't sure what kind of relationship these two had but she was sure this was against office rules. She gave a small squeal as she tried to back away, like a corpse her lips remained unmoved and she couldn't image this situation to get any worse. She was half expecting the person whose face she was wearing to walk into the office. Just to make it double as worse, because that would just be her luck.

Utterly panicked she felt the mask on her face begin to whither and she quickly placed a hand no his chest and push him off, before the mask fell off completely. For a moment he looked confused but Charley, not really caring, quickly turned and walked away but at least tried to smile but she was sure it wasn't convincing enough.

Alarmed she turned to find Sharon halfway to the exit of the office, having not realized she'd lost Charley. Doing a speeding jog which she now noticed was a much more efficient way to get about, she was too quick for people to ask her questions, or hand her reports, or say hello and certainly too fast for someone to kiss her. Finally she caught up with Sharon who was placing her security card on the door.

"What happened?" Sharon frowned when Charley met her, panting.

"This Rebecca person's boyfriend or whatever just kissed me."

"What?" Sharon said sharply.

"He bloody kissed me," She replied bitterly, feeling her cheeks flame red, "And I don't want to talk about it again."

As the door bleeped confirming Sharon's identity, Charley stormed past and yanked the door open going in first, "Careful, don't go drawing attention to yourself."

"I was just kissed!"

"Welcome to undercover work," Was all Sharon said as they did a brisk walk out of the base, down many steps where Charley presumed a car park lay... unless Sharon was leading her further down into the base, to a secret underground lair.

After an exhausting walk past just about every agent who just so happened to know whoever Charley's face was, she felt she'd got to grips with the whole acting thing as she smiled and shook a few people hands, taking folders willingly and managing to avoid any kisses. Now that the panicking had at least settled down.

Sharon unlocked a silver car, pointing at the passenger side to get in.

"Can I take this bloody mask off now," Charley called as Sharon slid in beside her, instantly turning the engine on and with her foot on the accelerator before she even had time to put her seatbelt on, "Not yet. They have cameras in here too."

"Right," She narrowed her eyes at the high concrete ceiling of the car park in search for any cameras, letting out a grumbly sigh when she caught a few.

Nervously, she pulled down the mirror in the car and peaked at herself. Despite _expecting_ a completely different face she couldn't contain her surprise by how different she looked. Her nose was now more pointy and straight, a little too long in her opinion, with large freckles dotted around her face jumbled. Her mouth was bigger and it had a natural curve to it. No longer did she have a resting bitch face that she had become so used too.

"Wow," Charley wistfully flinched, bringing her hands up to her face to feel it but a second later and there was a crackle and the mask fell apart with a yellow spark, "Shit."

"I told you not to touch it!"

"Sorry I forgot." Sharon side-eyed her with a warning glare. Luckily they were driving in broad day light now and the government base was now far in the distance behind them.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Hearing the rattle of cars above them, Sharon skilfully drove under a bridge and pulled the car to a quick halt, "we might be waiting here awhile." She said, pulling out her phone and typing in what looked like random digits but she assumed they were some sort of coordinates.

"I didn't realize you were this close to Steve," Charley leant back against the chair and stretched out feeling her back bones crack with pleasure. Being curled up in one position for a long time was not a healthy or smart move.

"What do you mean?" Sharon barely gave her glanced, focused on her phone.

"You risked your job just to help him."

"I was just helping out," Sharon shrugged it off, clicking one final button on her phone and letting it slid from her fingers back into the box beside her seat. Charley could tell she was attempting to maintain her shallow and neutral expression as she forced eye contact "and I wanted to help him. Steve's probably the best guy I know."

"Just friends?"

"I… I don't know if I'm honest," Sharon let out a whistle of air, "it doesn't matter anyway. Too much is happening. The accords, Steve is in the Avengers, I have my new job. It's been hard to transition into it, I don't like working for the CIA as much as I did with SHIELD."

"What about it?"

"It's just very different…" Was all Sharon revealed, tapping at the wheel to a quick beat, "Shall we listen to some music while we wait."

Charley didn't answer verbally but nodded along. The songs becoming background noise as sleep took over, leaning her head against the window with her elbow leant against her face in the most awkward fashion, deciding she'd try and get as much sleep as possible now.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

What felt like minutes later, Sharon began furiously tapping her arm, zapping the music off in one move, "They're here."

Never moving quicker in a sleepy state, Charley darted for the door handle and practically stumbled out of the door onto a rocky floor, catching herself with her hand before she smashed her face into it. The small rocks stung at her hand, as she used the open car door as a crutch to pull herself up.

Luckily no one seemed to see this as Sharon was busy trying to open her boot and a small, old-styled blue beetle car pulled up behind them. It seemed much too small for three buff men to be crammed inside and Charley had to bite her cheeks to stop herself from laughing. At least no one would suspect them.

Steve got out first and Charley realised she was still half hiding behind the back of the car to be in frame of Bucky. Nervous bubbles suddenly filled her stomach, as she had to take a pace back in order to gain her balance. The last time she saw him he had tried to kill her. Not that she blamed him in the slightest but the thought still scared her.

"Not sure you understand the concept of a getaway car," Sharon humoured Steve.

"It's low profile," Steve replied dryly, sounding tired. From behind the car, he caught eyes with Charley and a small smile made its way on to his face and she relaxed immediately, only for her fear to come back as Steve's instant reaction was to turn around and look nervously at the car behind him.

"Is he okay?"

"Anxious to see you." Steve gave her a sympathetic smile. With unsteady steps she walked forward, pulling Steve into a hug. As soon as she appeared in eyesight the blue beetle's doors were creakily pulled open, followed by a fast slamming of said door. Charley pulled away from Steve and turned to see Bucky racing towards her, with an air of panic. One moment she was by Steve the next she was swept up in a hug, being kept up by a strong and cold metal arm.

"I'm sorry," Bucky's grip tightened and Charley leant into the hug, equalling his desperation as she clung to the fabric on his back, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

"Buck, I'm fine. You didn't know."

"I'm sorry," he said on repeat like a machine caught on loop, "I never meant to hurt you."

A tear escape from her eye as she felt the coldness of his metal hand skim the back of her neck, as he brought her down from the sudden hug, her hair sliding through his fingertips as she did.

"You weren't in control, whoever that therapist guy was. He did it," Now that her feet were back on solid ground and she could actually see him she saw a large cut above his left eye, the blood from it seeping down his jawline. Careful not to brush against it, she brought a hand up to his cheek, "It's not your fault."

"I choked you," his eyes flittered down to her neck as if he was trying to find evidence. Charley had no idea if there was any bruising, she didn't have the time. Her throat no longer felt sore, so perhaps she really did get out of it unscathed.

"Doesn't matter, it's in the past. What I want to know is who are we fighting and what is happening?"

"It's a long story," Bucky shook his head, brushing a hair out of her eye. She was sure there were many pieces of hair in her face at the moment; she could practically feel the knotted mess on her head. It had been a good few days since she'd had the chance to wash and brush it, "I never mentioned it before with everything going on but your new hair, it looks good."

Even in the dire situation they were in, she found herself giggling. In the year that she was in England she'd cut her hair just above her shoulders and added lighter streaks to it. It had meant to be part of her new start package deal. Apparently that had all gone out the window as soon as she had the chance to see Bucky…

"I don't think now is really the time but thank-you," Charley smiled, looping her arms around his neck, "Now tell me what is happening, don't leave me in the dark this time please."

Wincing at her small dig, he gave in, "I'm not the only winter solider."

"What!"

"There were four more, all hidden away and they're dangerous, worse than me but what was weird is the guy wanted to know about a particular mission of mine," under a low breath he added, "the one where I killed Howard." Charley looked over his shoulder and saw Steve making conversation with Sharon, now having opened the back of the car and obtaining their shield and falcon wings, where they truly belong… with them.

"Steve doesn't know?"

"I've only just met him again after seventy years. It didn't cross my mind at the time," Bucky responded dryly.

"As excuses go," Charley returned her eye sight back to Bucky, "That's a pretty good one."

Bucky softly chuckled, leaning his head against her forehead. Since she'd last seen him he'd grown more of a scuff of a beard. It tickled the tip of her nose, "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Charley said, grinning despite herself at the fact he was finally with her again. She honestly thought she'd never see him after he left, "So where are we going- I mean I know we're going to get these winter solider people, but where is it?"

"We?"

Her face fell, "Don't give me that 'I'm not coming with you' crap, I've not seen you for a year and I can fight now. Natasha trained me; you saw it back in your apartment. I can handle myself."

"Charley, no. It's too dangerous."

"Bucky!" She didn't mean to raise her voice but she wasn't going to let him dictate whether she could fight by his side or not just because he wanted to protect her. Why couldn't she protect him for once? "No, I'm coming."

They had caught the attention of Sharon, Steve and Sam who had previously been distracting themselves with conversation. Bucky saw this out of the corner of his eye, and took Charley's arm, pulling her behind the car for more privacy.

Under his breath he grumbled a swear word, "look, I can't have you there too."

"What's the reason this time?"

"You know when I sometimes used to wake up from a nightmare," not sure where this was heading, she nodded her head sharply waiting for him to continue. Her arms were beginning to hurt from beginning crossed so tightly, so she let herself relax, dropping them back to her sides, "some of them, not all of them, but _some_ were about me forgetting you. Hydra would capture me again and I'd forget about you and when I saw you again I'd have no idea who you are. Now me and Steve are about to go to the Hydra base where I was wiped most of all. It was basically my home for the past seventy years until I met you. I can't bring you to that place."

Charley blinked and hesitantly placed a hand on his cheek, "nothing is going to happen, Buck." She promised, brushing a hand over his scruff of a beard. If she gave in to not going, she was going to make him promise one thing for her, "Just come back please in one piece please."

"I'll try." Bucky smiled gently.

"We better start moving soon," Steve appeared from behind the car hesitantly and a little red in the face as if he had been expecting to see them in a compromising position but from the way his shoulders slumped, he was visibly relieved.

"Be there in a second," Bucky replied, not taking his eyes off of Charley's.

"You've got to go."

"I know."

"Feels like you're always leaving me," She knew it was an unwarranted dig but she was still angry at him leaving her over a year ago and it didn't help that they'd only met again under such forced circumstances.

" _Charley_."

"Sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out so harshly," She sighed, rolling her eyes at her own patheticness. She thought to herself that she should just be happy that he was here now, "I just wish I could come with you."

"I don't like leaving you, you know that." He assured her.

"Yeah, I know."

An awkward air was left between them. Steve started up the engine of the car and was a cue that Bucky had to leave. Charley took the first move and stepped away from him, lingering her hand on his shoulder a little longer than necessary before pulling away completely, "Love you."

"You too," Bucky took a breath in before turning around in one swift movement.

Not too long after that did the small, blue beetle drive off with Sam, Steve and Bucky inside. Sharon slammed the car trunk shut and move to the drivers chair.

"You okay?" She asked, sliding into the car with Charley following close behind her in the passenger side.

"Not really," She responded. Sharon started the car up and the music started playing instantly, on a softer volume that before. To distract herself she began humming the music under her breath, despite not knowing half of Sharon's weird music taste that seemed to be a lot of country music, "Where are we going now?"

They had driven out from under the bridge with no trouble and she wondered which direction Steve had gone in.

"Probably to a hotel so you can keep a low profile," Sharon said as her phone buzzed. For a moment she took her eyes off the road to look down at it. Charley, against driving and being on the phone at the same time, sternly watched the road on her behalf. But it was unnecessary as a second later, Sharon pulled over and quickly launched for her phone.

"Crap," She sucked a breath in.

"What is it?"

"I put a facial recognition into the CCTV systems at work for that guy who mind washed Bucky," Sharon eye's darted across her phone furiously, "I got a match."

"You've found him!" Charley tried to sit up and look over her phone but Sharon quickly closed it.

"He's at the airport heading to Siberia, that's where Steve and Bucky are heading. To they Hydra base," Sharon leant her head against her phone to think, "it's too late to make contact with Steve now."

"Can we get to the airport in time?"

"We can but I don't have time to drop you off at the hotel first."

"You don't need too," Charley stressed, pulling out her own phone to google the distance between where they were and the airport.

Sharon hesitated before sucking in a breath, "we have no other choice. Let's go."

"okay then…" Charley braced herself as Sharon put her foot on the accelerate and they sped off, almost crashing into a few cars in the process.

"We don't know anything about him," Sharon said, "he could be skilful in combat so I might need your help."

"You think I can help?" Charley turned in her seat to stare in shock at her, most of the time people wanted her out of the way in the fighting as it meant less 'distractions'.

"Natasha says you're good," Sharon shrugged, "and there was footage of you tackling down the winter soldier before when he escaped. You managed to hold your own." If possible she pushed her foot harder down and they suddenly zoomed forward, "If we can detain him now then Steve doesn't have as much of a threat with the winter soldiers."

Holding onto dear life she grabbed onto the door of the car for support as Sharon took a quick turning and they practically flew past a sign that read ' _Airport'_.


	35. Civil War: At the Airport

**Chapter 35:**

"There's two flights he could be on," Sharon assessed reading from the large screen which held on the details for flights. Charley matched her eye line to see she was correct and there was two different airlines flying to the exact same place Siberia.

"What are we going to do?" Charley turned to Sharon. She was the agent here, she knew what to do in these situations. Despite all of this Sharon shook her head, and contemplated.

A second later she sprung to face Charley "Can I trust you?" Sharon said sternly, causing Charley to break her eyes away from the board and nod furiously, "It's just if we split up we could go to each separate flight and we'd be able to know which one he was on, but that relies on me trusting you."

"You can I promise," Charley nodded, glad she could be involved and help somehow rather than being left on the side-lines like everyone else did to her (Bucky and Steve driving off came to mind)

"Good," Sharon settled plainly. The two hurried off and brought their separate plane tickets in order to cross the security barrier. For a moment Sharon considered getting her CIA badge out to save her bank account the cost of an airplane ticket, but with a worried stare to the security cameras lacing the airport she thought better. She did not need her work getting involved.

At security they were met with suspicious stares as they had no luggage to offer and were quickly escorted through. Finally they were at the point where they would have to go separate directions.

Suddenly nerves overcame Charley, feeling as if she was finally being tested. She knew she had got better with the fighting stuff but her spy skills were still in need of a brush up. Sharon looked equally as nervous as she passed Charley a walkie talkie.

"Now understand I don't want you getting involved," Sharon stated clearly, laying out the ground rules as they were about to head off, "I just need you to monitor the surroundings, if you see him then talk to me through this and I will come and find you. You are not an agent and I do not give you my permission to interact with him. You'll only get yourself killed."

Charley couldn't help but feel like a small child being lectured as she nodded reluctantly, but she knew Sharon only meant well and out of the two of them, Sharon was far superior than she would ever be. She clicked the top of the walkie talkie hearing the fizzle of noise come from Sharon's own walkie talkie connected around her belt.

"Hide that under your jacket or something," Sharon said, "You might look suspicious carrying a radio like that, I have a badge I can show to avoid suspicion, you don't"

"Right," Charley nodded slowly, the bubble in her chest tightening as she looked around feeling as if everyone's eyes were on her. As quickly as possible she tucked the radio in her back pocket, making sure it was secure in place, "so find the fraud therapist guy, contact you and you'll come. Great." She repeated the plan.

Sharon gave her a nod of reassurance, "You'll be fine. Speak to you soon."

With that Sharon turned her back and scurried off doing a quick walk, dashing through the crowd as Charley lost sight of the blonde agent, people with suitcases and bags blocking her visual field. She stayed there for a moment longer, hoping Sharon would come back and tell her exactly what to do again. She knew she was being stupid, it was a simple task, but knowing she was now alone and might be finding a person who was trying to find other super soldiers to do his bidding wasn't a very calming thought and she hoped to god Sharon would find him first. After all she was trained most.

Taking a deep breath and counting down from ten, Charley sprung around and went in the opposite direction. She replayed the face of the man in her head, when she had pinned him against the wall on their last encounter. If only he hadn't hit her with a laptop and ran away then none of them would be in this situation. Every face she passed she studied but when she started receiving odd looks from the crowd passing she kept her head to the floor and decided just to wait by her plane's boarding gate and wait to see if he showed up.

Getting there was not a problem. Having travelled quite a bit abroad she knew her way around an airport. Her flights gate hadn't opened yet so she decided to treat herself to a cup of coffee. She hadn't slept very well over the past few days and a coffee was just what she needed to keep her eyes from falling closed.

She thought she'd found a pretty good spot to sit at, it was hidden in the corner, hopefully out of sights from most onlookers and gave her a pretty good view of any people boarding the plane.

Half an hour later the boarding gates opened and Charley jumped up in her seat, having been staring bored at her empty coffee cup, wishing she had more money to buy herself another one.

As people boarded one by one Charley scanned their faces. The first twenty people that boarded she ignored, knowing they didn't look anything like the man she'd seen before but on the 21st face she froze, quickly standing up. Upon impulse her hands curled up into a defence position. This was the man who had successfully brainwashed Bucky… again, with only a few words.

She wanted to see this man dead. It was his fault Bucky had almost killed her, his fault that she now had dark bruises up her neck from Bucky's metal arm and his fault Bucky now hated himself more than ever before.

Despite the hateful things swimming through her head she realized this man couldn't see her as he disappeared from view onto the plane. Charley launched for her back pocket where her walkie talkie was supposed to be but as she went for it, her hand clasped around thin air.

Panicking, she began to look around her chair, hoping she'd just simply dropped the radio whilst having her coffee but it was nowhere in sight.

"fuck, fuck, fuck," Charley swore under her breath turning to the couple who had been sitting by her table the whole time, "You haven't happened to see a walkie talkie have you?" She asked hopefully and then shook their heads, sending her an odd look, "okay thanks."

She looked at the large clock on the wall and saw that her plane still had twenty minutes before departing. Maybe that was enough time to run and find Sharon and run back again to catch him.

But she knew she couldn't risk not finding her and letting his man get away. Then Bucky and Steve would be completely screwed.

Bravely, Charley took out her ticket she'd brought an hour before and handed it to her plane's boarding gate operator. He studied it, smiled at her and allowed her to pass onto the plane with no further questions.

She willed her legs to keep moving. It felt like a powerful wind was blowing at her, hindering her from walking further and her legs ached from continuing. However there was no wind, only Charley bitterly thinking of the worst things that could happen to her once she boards the plane.

"Hello," the attendee gave her a toothy forced smile as she entered the interior of the plane. Her first reaction was to duck her face away, feeling as if he may remember her face as well as she did his, "Your seat is B19, have a nice flight."

She realized she was being very rude to the woman as she took back her ticket, not making eye contact and continuing to survey the plane, but at that particular moment she didn't really care. She couldn't see the guy and for one fleeting moment she was worried she'd just boarded a plane to Siberia thinking she'd seen him, when she hadn't. She had literally not money to get back, no plan, no experience in what to do and she had no way to contact anyone to help her out.

She was a fucking idiot, is what she was.

Her thoughts were diminished however when she saw him, sitting at the back, nearer the cheaper seats by the window staring solemnly out. He hadn't seen her yet and Charley planned to keep it that way, ducking down into her own seat only three rows away and sealing her own fate

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The rest of the journey flew by… literally. She was used to the boredom on a plane but usually she had prepared herself with a book to read or music to listen to. Now she had nothing other than looking over the person's next to her shoulder reading the news and found a fight had broken out at a German airport between the Avengers. The airport had been shut down but it seemed most of the Avengers were involved and some more. It just meant Bucky and Steve were still nowhere close to getting to Siberia… where incidentally Charley was now heading (even though Bucky warned her not to get involved… she'd apologize later, she decided.)

She spent the rest of the journey wondering what the next step in her plan was. She was hoping Steve and Bucky would already be in Siberia so she could at least meet up with them and tell them what was happening. But with little hope, she realized she was closer to getting to Siberia than Steve and Bucky were. Typical boys getting into a fight when she's managed to single handily get to Siberia all on her own.

 _Not too bad Weller,_ Charley smiled to herself proudly.

When the plane landed she followed the man like a hawk, careful not to lose him. She hadn't come this far just to lose him in a crowd. She discovered his name was Helmut Zemo after the airport attendee read his password allowed and she was right behind him. Her confidence grew with every step as she was pretty sure Zemo hadn't spotted her yet.

She followed him to a service station, allowing herself to walk closer to him. He hadn't turned around once and it was quite dark in Siberia due to the thick snow, so even if he did she was sure he could easily mistake her for a random civilian. He made a phone call and Charley stayed at the back of the service station pretending to be interested in purchasing a Russian doll, trying to listen to what he was saying but she couldn't hear a word.

Her hand was suddenly grabbed by something; they tugged forcefully at it making Charley spin around and face whoever had such a tight grip around her wrist. She looked up and saw Zemo piercing down at her.

Pretending she didn't recognize him she tried tugging her hand away from him but his grip was too tight, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Did you think I wouldn't recognize you?" Zemo drawled in a thick accent. Charley gulped, fearing the worst. She gave up on the wrist and instead went to knee him below the belt but he moved out of the way jumping back. However in this movement he had to spring Charley free of his hands and she had a moment to run for it but she couldn't go too far. She'd flew over here for one reason, stop Zemo before they got to Bucky and Steve.

She ran far enough out of the station. The snow was too thick to skilfully run through and there was no way she was getting away now as she could hear Zemo struggling behind her just as much as she was.

She wondered briefly whether Bucky and Steve were close by but the thought diminished quickly as she realized she needed to focus and made the conscious decision to stop running and turn around to face the running man behind her.

"You're not getting to the secret hydra base," Charley said quickly, fearing her voice may crack from fear if she spoke for very long.

"You're Charlotte Weller, I did my research," Zemo said, he slowed down from a run and watched her legs, as if expecting her to run again, "You're the winter soldiers little girlfriend. I'm very glad you came, I was looking for a plan B in case my plan failed."

"And what's your plan A?"

"I know you're not an agent, you don't have to pretend."

Charley's held high shoulders suddenly slumped as Zemo took another step forward. Despite there not being much of a height difference she couldn't help but feel much smaller in comparison. The man named Zemo didn't look like typical supervillain she'd expected. He didn't look big and strong, in fact Charley was pretty sure she could take him down with a few blows. He seemed like an everyday man to her.

"Why do you want the other super soldiers?" She decided she'd at least get some answers.

"No reason at all." Zemo shrugged, uninterested.

She rolled her eyes, "Then why are you here?"

"To end the Avengers."

Charley took note of his sinister tone, tearing her eyes away from his hands where she had been waiting for a fist to fly at her and instead at his face. He narrowed his eyes, the sides of his lips curling up.

He was being annoying sinister and unhelpful in his words, Charley decided to keep pestering him with further questions until he gave her something.

"Bucky's not an Avenger, why did you mess with his head?"

"To get to the heart of the Avengers."

From turning her head away from his hands she sealed her fate, as he pulled a large needle out of his pocket. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere his dived at her something sharp collided with her neck for a second before the pain disappeared. She clutched her neck protectively with her hands, quickly kicking out at him, large bits of snow kicking up into the air as she did so. He rolled backwards and Charley was satisfied to see him not take a step closer but a feeling of unsettlement crept into her chest as she saw the sinister smirk appear at the curve of his lips.

"You shouldn't have followed me," Zemo grinned, "stupid really, you made it really easy."

"What did you do?" Charley cried, going to her neck realizing he must have been referring to the sharp prick she felt, "Did you inject me with something?"

"It should kick in any second now."

"I thought you already had a Plan A?" Charley asked desperately, "Why do you need me?"

"For a plan B," Zemo shrugged simply, "To tear the avengers truly apart. To suffer as I did. They don't know what is…"

Before he finished his sentence, Charley could no longer him hear as his words came out in a slur. Was he still speaking? His mouth was still moving? Why were there two of them? She focused carefully; narrowing her eyes in order to get a better picture but three more Zemo's appeared, phasing out from one another in a blur.

"Please don't," was what Charley meant, however all the game out was a groan of noise as she stumbled forward, clutching into someone else's car door for support but her hands missed the handle, stumbling further forward and collapsing into the bitter snow, stinging at her hands. She hadn't dressed for the cold weather, she still wore the same jeans and jacket from three days ago which were now ripped and dirty.

"I wonder if what they used to wipe Barnes's memory is still operational…" Zemo said before blackness overcame her.

 **A/N okay so let's ignore the fact this took ages to update and probably really badly written for rushing, also the fact Charley clearly didn't have a passport on her and also Zemo happening to have a needle in his pocket. This is fiction, I don't need to explain myself :P**

 **Love you all for reviewing and thank you all for updating. You're the best :D**

 **Elliot Locksley: Update is here(finally, I know right) Thank you so much for your lovely review, love you :D**

 **Guest: continued as requested** **Thanks for the review**

 **.2017: thank you so so much. You're one of my dedicated reviewers and I just wanted to say I really do appreciate it, I can't thank you enough. I'm glad you enjoyed**


	36. Civil War: Who the hell is Charley

**Chapter 36**

Zemo dragged her forcefully across the dusty floor. The drugs were just beginning to wear off and Charley's eyes began to focus on her surroundings better. It was dark, and everything seemed to be made of metal.

Still having no control over her movement, her head lolled from side to side, rocking painfully as Zemo pulled her by the arm, finally plopping her into an uncomfortable chair in the middle of the room like a grand centrepiece.

"Good, you're awake," Zemo nodded to her, moving out of her line of vision, behind her. Feeling on edge, not having him in her sight, Charley tried to turn but found her vision blocked by the sides of the chair she was sitting on.

"Where am I?" She groaned, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep, her eyelids collapsing shut involuntarily.

"The Siberian hydra base," Zemo answered flatly, coming back into her view again, picking up her hands and clasping them into something. Charley had no control or strength to stop him. She felt like a puppet on strings.

"Hydra?" She repeated his words, trying to make sense of them, "Why are we here?"

"Well originally my plan was just to show Stark the footage of your boyfriend killing his father-"

"What?" her eyes snapped up to Zemo in despair. She wasn't sure how this man knew about Bucky killing Tony father, she didn't particularly care but if Tony was to ever find out, she knew it wouldn't end pretty. Hell, Tony treated her like shit just for staying over uninvited.

"But then I saw you following me. It seemed like the perfect opportunity"

"Tony will kill Bucky…" Charley said so quietly that it was barely audible. Zemo moved closer to hear her.

"That's what I'm planning on. With Barnes's death, Rogers will never forgive Stark and thus the fall of the avengers."

"Seems a little dramatic to me," Charley drooled sarcastically. At least her humour was coming back to her.

Zemo's jaw clenched, "Do you know what you're sitting on?"

"A really uncomfortable chair?"

Zemo's lips quivered. Maybe if she kept up the sarcastic humour, she'd annoy him enough that he'd let her go.

"Only a few years back the winter soldier himself sat in this very chair, whilst his memories were wiped," Zemo leered. Charley's face fell and she automatically sobered from whatever drugs he had injected her with. She looked hopelessly down at the chair she was sitting on, only just registering that Bucky had sat on this very chair in the very worst moments of his life. Desperately she tried to wiggle free, hoping to fall off but Zemo had already strapped down her arms, "I don't know how it works but I guess we'll see"

"No, don't!" Charley cried as Zemo went behind the chair and began pressing on some buttons. The machine came to life after he flicked a single switch, "You can't do this!"

"Whose going to stop you?"

"Please!" She pleaded, her voice breaking as panic swelled up inside of her. The machine buzzed on and she could practically feel the electrical pulses as her seat jutted backwards, she hoped she would slip right off. Or the machine would stop working, or that there would be a power cut. Something. Pulling at the metal bars around her wrists was futile, her wrists only became weak and begin to ache as the metal strips dug painfully into her arms. Panicking

"Is this really going to wipe my brain?" Charley asked with a jokey tone, still believing he was bluffing. Zemo nodded shortly before disappearing behind her again, "You can't just take people's bloody memories!"

She saw two buzzing metal items approaching closer to her head. Quickly she faced Zemo.

"What the hell have I ever done to you!" She screeched.

The drugs were still wearing off but the adrenaline pumping through her countered the drugs and she was more than well aware of what was going on around her.

"I want the avengers to feel the pain I did when I lost my family," Zemo replied bitterly, still pressing buttons on the machine. For a brief moment of hope, she thought he was going to turn it off.

"you lost your family?" Charley asked, her eyes turning sideward in panic as the buzzing metal got closer to enclosing around her head, "and you blame the avengers?"

"They took everything from me."

"So you think you have the right to take everything from them!"

It was the last thing she said before her head was trapped within a metal binder. The buzzing flared in her ear hole before the pain started. It was like a thousand hot knives were poking around in her skull, splitting it, tearing it to pieces.

 _I just need to remember,_ Charley thought as she let out a scream, her arms gripped around the chair arm for support, feeling as if she didn't clutch on tightly then the ground beneath her would collapse and she'd cave in, lost to the oblivion. She just needed to focus on Bucky.

Bucky. That was all. She wondered if he had felt like this every time he had been wiped. The excruciating pain that felt like her brain was about to implode. She wondered if he – he? Who? Bucky.

Bucky. She just had to remember him.

She couldn't forget. Bucky. Bucky. B-Bucky.

Who?

Her eyes closed tiredly as the machine fell away, having done its work. She wasn't even aware she'd been screaming his name.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The elevator leading to the Hydra base slowly creaked open, the age of lift spilling out in sound and rust as Steve had to pry it open, handing his shield to Bucky momentarily.

In the corridor the two of them were on edge, Steve stayed in front with only his shield whilst Bucky stayed behind him, keeping his eyes peeled for any movement or sign of life. The other Winter Soldiers were brilliant at hiding.

"Do you think, when this is over…" Bucky spared a look at Steve to make sure he was listening, he could see his head was half turned to him, "That Charley would want to start over again with me?"

A hearty chuckle came from Steve, "Buck, if there's one thing I know about that girl is that I don't think she ever really ended with you"

"I don't know if she would though," Bucky doubted, "After everything that's happened over the last few days, I attacked her for crying out loud."

Steve sent Bucky a grin, "you're not asking the girl to marry you Buck, just if you could start over. All you need to do is ask her when we get back and I'm sure she'll say yes in a heartbeat."

"You think?"

"Yes," Steve smiled fondly at his friend. He stopped in his tracks, confident no one was with them in the hallway and turned to look at Bucky in the eye, "I'm really happy for you. You deserve this."

Bucky shook his head, "I don't think I do."

"After everything you've been through it's the least you deserve. Trust you though, that despite being MIA for the last seventy years you still manage to get a girl before me."

Bucky gave a howling laughter as the two continued down the hallway, just as they reached some steps, the lift doors opened. Sure it would be Zemo coming to begin his plan, Bucky and Steve span around on the spot and raised their weapons in defence. Instead Stark appeared, his helmet off of his armour revealing a deep bruise going across his head from the airport battle.

"You seem a little defensive"

"It's been a long day."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

After a truce was drawn up between Steve and Tony, as Tony came to the agreement that he may have been wrong about the Winter Soldiers they ventured into the main room. Bucky felt shivers come up his spine. He swore he'd never step a foot in this place again. They met Zemo at the end, hiding behind protective glass that even Stark's weapons couldn't reach. The winter soldier cryochambers all had bullet holes ridden in them. Except Bucky's old one, which he tried to avoid looking at. He'd been shoved in there so many times.

Their confusion at Zemo's actual plan (now that he had killed all the other winter soldiers) was cut short as he began to play old CCTV footage.

Bucky didn't have to look at the footage to know what it was. The TV was angled away from him, in front of Tony but Bucky still remembered the cries of the woman. Stark's mother as he beat her husband to death before masking it as a car accident.

Bucky kept his eyes trained to the floor, only looking up once at the end when he heard the TV static appear. The tape was over. He looked at Steve nervously who was staring at him like he was a stranger. Slowly, he turned to Tony and seeing the pain in his eyes as tears pooled around them. He stayed staring for about a minute, lost in the grief over his parents.

Finally, Tony's head rose from the screen to look at Bucky.

His jaw was tight and Bucky's grip on the gun loosened, a stray tear falling from his eyes at the witness of seeing him murder someone. He knew he had done it, but this was the first time him really seeing him doing it. Under the control as the winter Soldier he barely had any memories. It's like he knew what he was doing but had no freewill to stop it.

Tony made a move towards Bucky and he ever so slightly moved back in fear. The anger settled on Stark's eyes was enough to know he wasn't going to get out of here alive. He deserved it. He deserved everything Stark gave him. He'd taken so many lives. He didn't deserve a second chance at his.

"Tony, wait," Steve grabbed Stark's arm as he span around to face his friend, his eyes landing on Steve's hand held dangerously clasped around him. Bucky readied his gun, although he doubted it would do much damage to Stark if he put on the tin mask.

Zemo's face was still in the window of the door. Bucky wondered why he hadn't left yet. The damage had been done. Stark was going to try and kill him, there was nothing Steve could do to convince his friend to not. It was revenge.

Bucky narrowed his eyes at Zemo who was smirking at the exchange.

"Did you know?" Tony asked Steve, his teeth gritted together in anger.

"I didn't know it was him"

Zemo's eyes travelled from Steve and Tony to Bucky. Their eyes connected as Bucky's darkened, wishing that the glass wasn't bulletproof, otherwise a bullet would already be between his eyes. Despite the death glare Bucky was sending him, Zemo's grin widened mysteriously. Even though Bucky could only see his face in the mirror he could tell Zemo was leaning down for something.

Whatever it was he pressed it triggered one of the cryofreeze's to open. Bucky recognized it. It was the one he was put in for seventy years. His stomach dropped in fear as Steve and Tony stopped their eye battle momentarily to look at it.

Bucky raised his gun his gun expecting another winter Soldier to be inside, under the control of Zemo. He steadied it and lined the target up. Beside him Tony raised his hand, sending a glare over his shoulder at Bucky but remained alert anyway and Steve held up his Shield defensively. When the cryo-freeze was fully opened they saw a girl inside. Her head was dangling forward in an awkward position as if Zemo didn't know how they were supposed to be put in the cryofreeze properly.

Bucky dropped his gun instantly but too shocked to move. His head turned to Zemo in the glass window who was smirking as he quickly disappeared out of sight. The damage done.

"Charley-," Bucky uttered making a move but Tony held out his iron arm, catching Bucky in the chest.

"Tony, wait-" Steve tried, "Don't do this. Just let him go to Charley"

Tony lowered his stare "He killed my parents…"

"I know, Tony, just-"

Tony didn't listen as he used the hand preventing Bucky from moving and flung it at Steve. Steve flew backwards, hitting the back wall. Bucky used this distraction to run forward towards Charley, knowing he didn't have a lot of time. However his legs quickly fell under him when Stark tripped him. His face would have hit the floor had he not used his metal arm to catch himself.

His back was pulled upwards as Tony hit him in the stomach, the sound of him taking off could be heard and Bucky was no longer on the floor being taken in the air and away from Charley. She was still unconscious, not having moved since the cryofreeze had been opened. With a jolt of fear, Bucky wondered if she was dead.

Stark shoved him against a wall, so hard that the wall actually cracked. Stark pushed one of his iron hands down onto Bucky's face to keep him down.

"Just let me get to her!" Bucky cried out, "She's done nothing wrong. She's innocent!"

Tony didn't listen as he raised his other hand, curled up in a fist and prepared to send Bucky a blow to the face.

Suddenly, he was thrown off of him. Steve appeared holding out a hand to Bucky to help him up. He quickly took it, looking around to see where Stark had gone. He found him thrown against the corner with the Shield at his side.

"Bucky, just go. Get out of here. I'll get Charley out" Steve quickly said pushing Bucky forward towards the door that was now covered in debris "I promise"

"Not without her!" Bucky ignored Steve and ran towards Charley with determination. He heard Steve sigh just as Stark got up again. Prepared to fight.

"I'll distract him then, just hurry up"

Bucky reached Charley, ignoring the pain in his leg. He cupped her face and wiped the hair from her eyes "Charley?" With his right hand he checked her pulse and his heart began pumping normally again when he felt the light pulse beat through "Come on, let's go"

Using his metal arm he broke the wires around her off and took her in his arms, bridal style. She let out a small groan, her head lolling into the curve of his neck.

"Come on, baby, let's go" he hoped she would wake up then and tell him off for using such a god awful nickname. Luckily she was light as he made it to the door but there was too much debris to move. He looked up and saw the roof which he knew had a switch to open it up. As fast as he could he carried Charley carefully over the bricks, slamming his hand on the switch as the roof opened up.

Behind him Steve was still keeping Stark fighting. But Stark was so determined to reach Bucky it wouldn't be long before he lost his grip and Bucky would be having to fend for himself.

He also knew there would be no way he would be able to climb to the top holding Charley. Gently he propped Charley up against the wall and placed his metal hand on her cheek.

"You got to wake up, come on, Charley. I need you." he softly shook her shoulders. Her eyes twitched open, slowly coming to her senses. Finally her eyes focused and they settled on Bucky. They were wide and disorientated as she quickly moved backwards and held up her arms in defence "Hey, hey. It's me" Bucky calmed her down, taking hold of her wrists to stop her punching him "I know you've just woken up but I need you to help climb. Can you do that for me, doll?"

She didn't say anything as Bucky got up, her hand still clutched his desperately. He had to let go when he climbed up first, without her, rolling onto his front and reached a hand down for Charley to take. She stared at it, unsure of what to do.

"What's happening?" Charley uttered quietly, looking around wildly for the search of the danger. Her eyes caught Stark and Captain America fighting. Bucky looked at her closely seeing her shaking.

"Stark found out I killed his parents"

"What?"

"I'll tell you all of it when we get out of here. I need to get you out. Charley, just please take my hand"

"Who the hell is Charley!" Charley cried, clutching her head in frustration. Bucky's arms slackened as he realized what she was saying. He looked up and saw Steve losing the battle against Tony. Behind them was the chair. The chair he had been put it more times than he can remember. It had a large stone thrown on it now but the chair was still intact.

His heart breaking as his eyes fell back to Charley. She looked so desperate. So lost. He understood it more than anyone else. He wanted to be sick at the idea that Zemo had put her in the chair. The pain he had felt she now knew. The desperation to clutch onto your memories as they are wiped away from you. The confusion upon waking. The frustration at not knowing who you are and what has happened. Charley had gone through all of that and he didn't protect her.

But he had to be sure, "Can you tell me what my name is?"

"Why does it matter?" Charley screamed out. Her focus wasn't on Bucky but instead what was happening behind her. Her whole body was convulsing.

"Do you know what my name is?"

"No, I don't!" she said quietly "I don't know anything. Where the hell am I, I don't even know my own name. What the hell! What's happened?" She was breathing heavily as her legs gave out beneath her and she collapsed, clutching at her hair like a mad person "I don't know anything"

"Charley, calm down. Just take my hand" Bucky knew he couldn't focus on her memory loss now. They could sort that out later. His main priority was getting her out, "Come on!"

Steve had lost the fight to Stark and he was zooming over to us, avoiding all of the debris smoothly.

"Who is Charley!"

Bucky gasped for air, he felt like the oxygen had been kicked out from him as he stared at Charley, desperate for her remember. In his panic over Charley he almost missed a large stone of debris collapsing down where Charley stood. He swung off the metal railings and pushed Charley with his metal arm out of the way as stone fell down, slicing at his other arm. He let out a scream of agony, feeling the cloth rip around his skin.

"We've got to get out of here now!" Bucky turned to her as she whimpered away from him, "I know you don't know me but I promise you, all I want to do is get you out of here." He reached a hand out for her and Charley stared at it dumbfounded as if she'd never seen a hand before. She shook her head quickly.

"I don't know you. You have a fucking metal arm, normal trustworthy people don't have metal bloody arms!"

"Just trust me. Please." If it was any other time Bucky would have applauded her on her natural and well used use of the British swear word 'bloody', but Charley didn't even know who he was and it was no time to joke.

Staring at his hand as if it were a bomb, Bucky quickly swapped arms, this time showing her his non-metal one (albeit bloodied). Her face relaxed a little as she reached out for it, her hand enclosing over his. She was cold, unnaturally cold. Bucky quickly held her hand a little tighter and guided her along the debris with only one thought in mind; _He was going to kill Zemo for what he had done._

 **A/N I'm aware I probably called the Cryo thing the wrong name. is it a cryofreezers? Cryochamber? Just a cryo? I just don't know. Anyhow, you knew what I meant (Hopefully)**

 **Reviews:**

 **FangedMe:** Your review made my day. I had, had such a crappy day with my final exams coming up and I read your review and it filled me with so much happiness. Thank you so much. Sorry… but the wiping thing was done… please don't cry. *passes some tissues* I really really hope this chapter lives up to expectations!

 **Becca:** Charley isn't as good as she thinks she is, lol. Thanks for a amazing review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I'm living up to the Civil War plotline. I'm having to change a few things now with Charley involved but I hope it's still good :D

 **.2017:** Thanks so much!

 **Lara Barnes** : ah thanks for the review! Yup, she was wiped. I hope I've done it well. I wasn't sure how to describe the wiping of memories and don't worry, I can change things in the plot… maybe he doesn't have to go in the cryo like he did at the end of the film


	37. Civil War: Wakanda

**Chapter 37**

"Just trust me. Please," the man with the metal arm said, as he quickly swapped hands revealing his normal and less threatening arm.

She tried not to focus on the catastrophe happening around her. Everything was falling apart and she didn't know why. She didn't know anything at all, not even her own name or why this man in front of her seemed to be the only thing safe right now despite having a freaking metal arm!

Staring at the arm warily, she decided to take it hesitantly and slowly. Scared he'd suddenly turn on her and kill her with that arm of his but at this moment in time it really was her only option to trust him if she wanted to get out alive. If she didn't she'd end up being crushed by one of those beams that was.

The man guided her along, pushing her in front of him as a small bit of metal debris crashed behind them.

"just go as quick as you can," there was a desperation in his voice that made her legs move just a tad faster, despite the crushing ache in them.

"Where are we going?"

"Up. Just go up."

She grabbed onto the nearest rails and heaved herself upwards, it was difficult at first the exhaustion seemed to be setting in from whatever trauma had happened beforehand but as soon as she glanced around and saw a red metal tin man flying towards her, adrenaline began to blindly pump through her and her heart gave a kick start.

"He's catching up!"

"Steve will keep him busy," he attempted to sooth her, as if knowing this Steve was on the job, then everything would be okay... but she had absolutely no idea who this Steve guy was and how exactly he would keep the tin man busy.

As they reached the third railing up, the man kept his arm on hers as she had to push up against the wall and slowly step across a gap where the railing had disappeared from falling debris, just as she thought she had passed the dangerous points, her foot missed a step and she tripped.

Her entire body fell paralysed as she was unable to do a thing. She tried grabbing onto the railings but the fear inside of her stopped her from moving a muscle. If it hadn't been for the man's arm clinging onto her with a death grip around her waist she would have fallen down a fifty foot drop to her death.

"Thanks," she timidly nodded a head up to her saviour who only gave a curt not in reply.

"No problem, I'm used to having to catch you whenever you trip. You do it a lot."

"Right..." She attempted a smile but couldn't form one. She had no idea what he was on about.

She gave on last look at the fatal drop and decided (despite knowing nothing about herself) that she was deathly afraid of heights.

The tin man was so close to them now that she could hear the buzzing of his suit drawing nearer.

The man with the metal arm was aware of this, and grabbed her arm, pulling her down as the metal man fired an array of blasts at them. From the sudden jolt of her arm being pulled down, her foot almost slipped again but she managed to hold on by having a death grip on the man's arm.

"Are we going to die?" She asked timidly.

The man had previously been looking around for any other blasts coming their way but he paused momentarily and turned to her, "No, you're going to get out of here and you're going to get your memories back. I promise you"

Her voice cracked, she hadn't meant it too, she was just so scared. Everything was collapsing and everything was confusing. Her only source of comfort was the man beside her. She clung onto him as much as possible, "Can you tell me something... what's my name?"

"Charley. It's Charley"

"Okay..." She tried to get her breathing under control, wanting to lean more into this mysterious man but there was no time the tin man appeared before them, his hand raising revealing a glowing like orb.

"Do you even remember them?"

"I remember all of them." There was suddenly a blast coming form the tin man's hand. Charley gave a squeal, coiling into herself as a flash of light blinded her. There was a groan of pain and a scream and suddenly she was falling, her legs hitting a bit of debris as she did, there was a crack as she landed on her back. Like a rag doll her head lolled backward, slapping against the floor.

"AHhhh!" Charley screamed, trying to get up and sooth her leg. There was a burn tingling in her ankle that felt like it was non-stop throbbing. But her body wouldn't pull itself up. She looked around her for help and saw the metal armed man next to her, except now his arm was missing. He was on all fours staring at it with shock. The pain in her leg seized as she managed to crawl towards him with a struggle, having to tummy crawl.

The man looked up at her. With one arm he managed to stand straight, with a small limp he dragged himself towards her, meeting her halfway.

"Holy shit, does that hurt?" Charley asked nervously, scared to get near it as electricity seemed to be sparking out of it.

"Go and hide, I'll find you later."

Charley looked at him with open eyes. Momentarily she was distracted by the tin man and someone else behind him. He was dressed in a fitted red, white and blue outfit. Fit for a superhero. She assumed this was Steve was what the now non-metal armed man said earlier. His hand were balled up in fists as he had the tin man pushed up against the wall. It seemed impossible for him to be beating the tin man as he punched and kicked at his armour.

"Killing them isn't going to change anything," Steve cried, seizing punching him for a moment. Out of nowhere the tin man managed to get leverage and blasted Steve backwards.

Charley couldn't take her eyes off of it. She knew these people. She knew she did. But from where? Why were they fighting? Someone had killed someone, wasn't it? She remembered hearing that earlier? The metal armed man? Had he killed someone?

She looked at him, doubt clouding her mind. How was she sure she was trusting the right one? Just because he told her, her name?

She doubled backwards. The metal armed man seemed to be struggling without his arm, even standing seemed to be a struggle as he balance was wobbly.

"Who are you people?"

"You can ask questions later, everything will make sense I promise. Just please, get out of the way."

"They're my friends," Steve said behind them, his voice cracking on the last word.

"So was I..."

The battle commenced as the two went at one another again. Charley paused staring at the scene and decided to leg it in the other direction. Her main goal was to get out, but as she ran the tin man fired out a blast, hitting a column next to her. As quickly as she could with limited energy, she dived out of the way, landing face first onto the floor. Rubble tumbled down on her and she struggled to stay conscious, losing her battle as foggily the world turned black.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

 **Wakanda:**

Through a mirrored window, Bucky stood watching Charley as she peacefully slept. What felt like thousands of wires attached to her, checking her heart rate, breathing, brain activity to discover what they can do to help her in getting her memory back.

He was glad for the mirrored window. This way he was able to watch over her and know she is safe without having to suffer through the pain of her waking up and looking at him with no recognition.

She had yet to wake and Bucky was getting increasingly nervous by the minute. He felt as though he hadn't taken a moment to just appreciate her presence. Their recent meetings he had either been trying to kill her or she had forgotten him. As her chest rose and fell he realized just how beautiful she was.

Days after they first arrived, Charley's eyes finally began to quiver.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

"How is she?" Bucky asked the white coated doctor as he exited Charley's room for about the sixith time that hour. Every time she left Bucky would banger her with questions about her wellbeing but this was the first time the doctor responded fully.

"Physically she's fine but mentally I can't be sure," The doctor said, reviewing her clipboard with drifted concern, "I've never seen memory loss like this. Usually I see patients have memory loss due to trauma or a head injury. It's like her memories have been physically taken from her. I don't quite know the best medical approach to take is."

"You're a doctor, work it out…" Bucky snapped angrily. Taken aback, the doctor withdrew.

"Buck," Steve said in a low voice from behind him. The doctor bowed her head at Steve's entrance, "I'm really sorry ma'am, he's just under a lot of stress. Can you keep us posted on her condition?"

The doctor smiled brightly and disappeared down the corridor, as soon as she was out of earshot Bucky rounded on his friend.

"Did you have to patronise me like that?"

"She was just doing her job," Steve held up his hand in surrender, "She knows less than we know about her condition." He side eyed the window and took a second glance when he saw she was awake. Her eyes were scanning the tech beside her bed widely, completely lost, "She's awake…"

"Yeah for about an hour now."

"Have you been in there?"

Bucky sighed, "No."

"She needs you Buck."

"I know that!" Bucky quickly snapped, firing a glare up to his friend who this time, didn't back down but glared equally as harshly back.

"If anyone understands what she's going through it's you."

Eyes avoiding the mirrored window where Charley was now sitting up, he instead focused on the full length window that showed the open world of Wakanda. Outgrowing trees and the highlight of green nature flourished. In the distance, a large black panther statue could be seen growling. It was truly beautiful, yet Bucky still didn't feel at ease.

"I can't go in there and see her not recognize me," Bucky admitted sombrely. Suddenly his voice cracked into a bitter laugh that sounded more like a howl than a joyful noise. Steve stared on worriedly that Bucky had lost his mind, "You know, all this time I was worried about me forgetting her. I never- never thought she'd be the one forgetting me."

"Bucky-" Steve had no words. No words to comfort his friend. Feeling useless, he offered a hand on the shoulder. He knew it was pathetic but there was no magic solution to solve Bucky's problem, "I'm here for you, you know that. But you need to be there for her."

"I know and I will be I just need to prepare myself."

"It'll only be for a while. She'll get her memories back soon enough"

Bucky turned, sharply, "What if she doesn't?"

"You did. She's only been wiped once, you were wiped for seventy years under torture and being reprogrammed and managed to come back from it. She'll be fine," Steve was sure of it. He looked back her. Her hands were reaching down for something dangling from her neck, something silver. She rubbed over it, staring at it with only confusion.

Finally Bucky turned on the spot and looked at her through the window. He nodded slightly and was halfway to moving towards Charley's door when he spun around again. Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes and drag his best friend into the room himself.

"What did Sharon say on the phone?"

"That she was sorry about Charley," Steve said, seeing Bucky's shoulders tense in agitation, "It wasn't her fault either, it was an accident"

"It wasn't an accident Steve! She didn't slip on the chair and lose all her memories," Bucky cried, "Zemo did this, and Sharon let her be a part of whatever plan she had in mind. She's an agent; Sharon should know not to take on civilians"

"Sharon did what she thought was best in the situation, and Charley is hardly a civilian anymore. She's been training for a whole year with Natasha, she's able to take care of herself-"

"She's lost all her memories Steve!" Bucky shouted causing a few of the doctors nearby to look up and glare.

Feeling powerless to help his friend, Steve took a step back and held his hands up in surrender. Bucky gave a curt nod.

"Look, Sharon told me the others have been incarcerated. She's sent me the coordinates, I've got to go get them out," Steve said quietly.

"Do you want me to come with you? I can help?" Bucky added but Steve quickly shook his head, rejecting his offer. Trying not to feel hurt by this, Bucky looked away.

"It's not that I don't want your help but, Charley needs you more. Go be with her," Steve planted a hand on Bucky's back for support before turning on his heel and pacing away in the opposite direction.

Bucky looked at his best friend retreating down the hallway and suddenly felt more alone than ever, like a deep cavity in his heart had just erupted. Charley had forgotten him. He'd rather take on a thousand bullets than ever deal with the thought of her being tortured the way she was, and forgetting everything they had once shared.

Swearing under his breath (receiving some disapproving stares) He approached Charley's room, cautiously stepping closer.

One hand on the door and a heavy heart, he finally opened the door.

 **A/N I know it's been ages, I haven't exactly been having a good time atm so expect slow updates.**

 **Also HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN SPIDERMAN? LIKE OMG IT WAS AMAZING. Already going to see it a third time this week because… wow.**

 **Becca: heyy, sorry for the long update (especially with that cliff-hanger, I'm very sorry). Don't worry Charley will be fine, doesn't stop Bucky from worrying through :P thank you so so so much for the review. Again, sorry for the long update.**

 **Tink508: ah thanks, I wasn't sure if it was an expected cliff hanger or not, I've had this planned since the start.**

 **4: thanks so much for the review, I'm very sorry for any pain caused :P hopefully you've recovered now after I was super terrible and took ages to update (Sorry :/)**

 **Ryane: Sorry for taking so long, you reviewed ages ago, hope you'll still be back for more. Thank you so much for sticking with the fic :D**

 **Haileywritesthings: Thank you so much for this review and sorry for taking so long to update. I've had the plan of Charley losing her memories from the very start so yes, I have been planning this pain all along. Lol. Thank you so much. From this point onwards, I actually have no idea what route this fic is taking so who knows if they'll be a happy ending.**

 **Guest: Thank you so much for your review! Haha, don't know if Bucky meant it that way, but I suppose you're right. And thank you, I didn't want to be one of those writers who follows the exact same storyline and doesn't add anything new so I'm glad you're enjoying the storyline. Have an amazing day yourself and sorry for taking so long to update :D**

 **Sethiel: Thank you for your review and sorry for taking so long to update a new chappy. Hope you enjoy this one just as much :D**

 **.2017: haha, always look forward to your reviews. Love you and thanks for the reviews (sorry for taking so long, don't hate me)**

 **Donny Donowitz: Sorry it took so long to reveal actually what happens in the next chapter (don't hate m. I know I'm terrible) Thank you so much for your review :D**

 **Elliot Locksley: Thanks so so much for your review, sorry for the long update :/ again, chapter is very much Bucky POV as it was getting way too confusing to keep calling Bucky 'the man' because Charley didn't know who he was. OMG THE 100! LITERALLY MY FAV SHOW. How far through it are you? Bellarke are my literal OTP, I just cannot.. ah. Octavia is my 100% fav character tho. What about you?**

 **Sheriffgirl: you know, I was actually debating giving Charley a superpower to make her strand out more but everyone seemed to like her being normal so I stuck with it. Glad you like her as a OC. And sorry for taking so long to update, thanks for the review :D**

 **artemis7448: haha, sorry about last chapter. This one I don't suppose is any less pain free :D**

 **Lara Barnes: I know it's terrible she forgot him :'( and thank you, I wasn't sure. TBH I'm not sure where I'm going with the fic from here on out, all I've planned up to is here so it could go anyway but I promise no cryo.**

 **\- knarl**


	38. Rocky Road

**Chapter 38**

Bucky pushed on the door and was welcomed by a stuffy and claustrophobic room. He wasn't sure if it was the room itself or the thought that Charley would soon be sitting across from him, having no idea who he was. Whatever this feeling was, it made him want to turn around, escape and breathe the air of the air conditioned hallway. It wasn't too late, Charley was much too absorbed in something she was holding that was tucked close to her chest that she barely noticed an intruder come through the door.

Momentarily he second taking Steve's advice and seeing her. He could wait until the doctor figures out how to get back her memory and come see her then. No need for his heart to break further.

 _But, she hadn't abandoned him,_ he thought bitterly, trekking further into the room despite his thoughts screaming at him to stop, turn around and walk in the other direction.

He made his way into the room, the door snapping shut behind him. The sound startled Charley as she dropped what she was holding, snapping up to look at Bucky.

His first instinct was to closely observe her body language, it was a habit he'd picked up as the Winter Soldier, analysing how his targets responded to him as he came into their view. It was a good way of assessing the situation and to see how the other person would respond. There was one difference… Charley was no target. Yet, he couldn't ignore how her body language matched people he'd fought in the past.

Her back curled up ever so slightly, shrinking her size. Her hands gripped tighter around the bed sheets, pulling them up so they covered the bare skin on her shoulders and her eyes widened with anticipation at his entrance.

"Hey," Bucky greeted with a slight wave of his hand, feeling incredibly awkward standing there. Charley gave no indication that she'd heard him or welcomed his presence so he stayed where he stood, the last thing he wanted to do was spook her into being frightened of him. He noticed she wasn't staring at his face but rather at his arm. The lighting was much better here than it had been the last time she'd seen him at the Hydra base and the metal arm was much more prominent, he'd seen nurses and doctors at the Wakanda base give careful glances to the arm, he didn't care what they thought, but he cared what _she_ thought.

As subtly as he could, he respectfully moved the arm behind his back.

"How're you feeling?"

"Good," Her voice croaked, something told him she hadn't spoken much in the last couple of days, "I think." She added, her voice lowering.

She wasn't _good_ , as she put it. She was falling apart. Bucky understood all too well, the feeling of helplessness at not knowing who the hell you are. He just wish there was some way he could help but if he knew how to get memory back he'd have done it to himself a long time ago.

"You're doing really well," He tried to be supportive, offering her a small smile even though it killed him to do so.

"That's what the doctors say too. I don't really know how I'm doing well but okay," She shrugged, shrinking further into her covers. If she went any more Bucky was afraid she'd sink into them, "I wanted to say thank-you," Bucky frowned as she continued, "I think if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten out of that place… wherever it was. So thanks."

"You don't have to say thank-you"

She nodded rigidly, "Well thank-you anyway."

Silence spaced out between them and Bucky began looking hopelessly around the room for inspiration for things to talk about but with no luck. The walls were bare. Only hospital equipment littered the room. A large mirror on the wall which Bucky knew was actually a one way window (not that he'd mentioned that). Other than these items, the room was rather dull. Actually, how she was going to get her memory back looking at a room as empty as this he had no idea.

He decided then and there that as soon as the doctors gave her the all clear, he'd take her out of this room and show her the view of Wakanda. It was a beautiful country and she shouldn't be stuck in a hospital room where there wasn't even a window to view the vibrant jungle.

"What was your name again?"

Caught up in his thoughts he was shocked to hear her speak again.

"Uh- Bucky."

She looked disappointed at the answer as she looked down at her neck. With further confusion at her disappointment, Bucky took a small step closer. She didn't seem alarmed so he dared another step.

"What's wrong?"

"I just…" her voice cracked again. Bucky watched despairingly as the woman he loved gave a small sob. Of all people he should be the most helpful person to her, he _should_ know what to do but he couldn't understand what was running through her mind. He just didn't know what he could do to help her, "Do you know a James? I thought it might be you, probably really silly… I don't know"

"That is me!" Bucky jumped at the chance to console her.

"Really? You said your name was Bucky?"

"James Buchanan Barnes is my full name. My friends call me Bucky, from my middle name. Sorry, I should have said James, I'm just so used to being called Bucky."

"Right, well I guess these are yours," Charley said whilst reaching down to the something she'd been playing with before he'd entered the room, around her neck. She took it off and passed him the silver dog tags he'd left for her after she'd moved back to England, "I don't know why I had them, they were just on me. I don't know. You can have them back though," Bucky stared at them for a moment, just comprehending what this meant. Charley had held onto them for the whole year he'd been apart from her and now she was giving them back as if they meant nothing to her. When he didn't take it immediately she said, "They have the name James Barnes on them, they're yours"

"It's yours," Bucky mumbled under his breath but the room was so empty and quite she heard him clear as day.

"They don't have my name on them."

"They're still yours."

When she realized Bucky wasn't going to take them she sighed and let them fall onto the bed sheets in front of her, rather than put them back on.

"I'm sorry, I genuinely have no clue as to who you are," Charley apologized.

"You don't have to say sorry, I understand."

" _I_ don't understand…" She shook her head, "I don't understand anything"

Her eyes brimmed with tears and Bucky could no longer stand watch her from afar. He took a large stride closer and sat at the end of her bed, her legs moving to accommodate his large frame.

As he sat down he noticed a large bruise above her eye and around her neck. For a moment a raging anger bubbled inside of him at the thought of Zemo touching her, now not only mentally harming her but physically harming her. But he remembered the fight. Where he had lost his own memories. She had tried to stop him. _He_ had caused her these injuries. Why was she always so brave?

A pit of self-loathing settled in his stomach.

"The nurses and doctors don't tell me anything," Charley whimpered as she cuddled up closer into the sheets. Her knees were brought up to her chest like a child in need of comforting, "James, Can you just tell me what's going on? I don't know anything and I'm so scared-"

"You don't need to be scared, nothing's going to happen to you."

"But I don't know you!" she cried in frustration. He understood it all too well, the confusion when Steve refused to fight Bucky back. The concept that there's someone who cares about you and not knowing who they are is frightening.

"I know," he bowed his head trying to think of anything he could say, "But you will, your memories will come back eventually."

"Why was I even there? Can you tell me how I lost my memories?"

Bucky sighed, he should have known this would be a question she'd want answered. The first thing Bucky remembered after being wiped was that… he had been wiped. He never questioned how he had lost his memories, he already knew. It was probably because it was a process that had been done hundreds of times on him and it had become second nature.

"It's a long story."

"Please James…" somehow her eyes rounded as she pleaded with him using her puppy dog eyes. He'd always thought that she did those eyes purposefully to convince him to do what she wanted, maybe she genuinely had no idea how adorable she looked.

He nodded, trying to ignore the fact she'd called him James even though it brought a stab to his chest, "Do you remember who the Avengers are?"

"I don't remember anything…"

"Well they're a group of superheroes."

"Superheroes?" She looked like she was about to faint as she stared in disbelief, "you've got to be kidding me"

He decided not to stay focused on that new information to her. He was convinced she'd get her memories back within a day or so and she'd be able to fill in the gaps herself.

"Well, he was looking to tear the Avengers apart and you were so brave –you always have been - and went after him to try and stop him and I guess he caught you and wiped your memories." He didn't want to go into too much detail, fearful it might be too much for her to cope with.

"That leaves so many more questions than answers, you know that right," she responded uneasily after many minutes of silence.

"I know," Bucky nodded, agreeing entirely. He knew it did but how else was he supposed to explain it all to her, "and you'll understand soon." _When you get your memories back._

"I remember my mum," She said out of nowhere. Excited about the prospect of her remembering something, Bucky nodded, urging her to continue on. Anything she could remember was important. He tried to push back the sinking feeling that she hadn't even had the slightly memory of him yet but there was still time, "Sort of, I can't picture her face but I would know it was her if I saw her. We used to make Rocky road together."

Bucky smiled at the comfort this memory brought to her. Her features brightened up a little and the curve in her back relaxed as she rested against the bed frame.

"Never had rocky road."

"Neither have I as far as I remember," the dark shadow was cast again over her face as she frowned at her hands where he noticed she was fidgeting with his dog tags again, "can't remember what it tastes like."

"It'll be okay."

"When will I be able to get released from here and go back home? I'd really like to see my mum – Or maybe she can come visit me here?" Charley asked with hopeful eyes. There was the puppy eyes again that deepened the cavity looming in his heart.

"Because of everything that happened before, we're fugitives. You won't be able to go back for a while."

"oh…" she looked away.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He noted how her voice had become quiet as she said it much slower than she did anything else. He tried to see if she was trying to hide tears but she hide her face so well as she pretended to look at some medical charts on the wall. But if he had to guess, she was definitely crying.

"It sort of is, you wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for me."

"What do you mean?"

 _That we were in love and you only came after us to protect us, as I would have done for you. Even though you were a complete idiot for doing so but I love you all the more._ Was what he wanted to say, but he couldn't tell her they had been in love or where in a sort of relationship. It was too much pressure on her, she was already under more stress than he'd ever want her to be under, he couldn't add to that.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "I should have taken more care that you weren't put in the situation you're in now."

Unsure of how to respond to this, Charley shrugged. He guessed she was still trying to work out the relationship between them and he hoped she wouldn't ask him directly. He wouldn't have the faintest idea of how to respond. Charley's eyes flickered down to where he sat and he noticed her shift in state, suddenly becoming uncomfortable with the close proximity.

"Thanks for checking on me," the corners of her mouth turned up in a half smile, "I'm a little tired now though. Do you mind leaving so I could take a little nap? The nurses took quite a lot of blood to test earlier, just feel a little faint"

"Sure. If you need anything-"

"I can ask the nurses , I guess."

"Yeah, them," quickly he got up, not wanting to distress her with being so close. As he edged further out of the room Charley turned back, with a hopeful gaze he turned to meet her eye, hoping she'd want to ask more questions about her life so her memory could be jogged but she just held out her dog tags.

"Can you take them?" She said awkwardly, "Sorry, James, I just feel weird keeping them."

"uh- yeah, that's fine." He took them from her, feeling the slightest brief of connection as his hands accidently brushed against hers.

Even though the dog tags were actually meant to be his, it felt wrong to be holding the cold silver metal again. He put it over his neck and let it rest against his chest as he vowed to himself that as soon as Charley got her memories back, he'd give them straight back.

He quickly escaped the room feeling as if his heart had suddenly stopped working and if he didn't sit down quickly his entire body would freeze. The tight squeeze in his chest levitated slightly as soon as the door closed shut behind him and she was no longer in sight, but as he walked past the one sided glass window he saw her turn over in her bed, curl up and begin to cry. All of a sudden, he felt worse than ever.

 **A/N long time no see eh? Yeah, soz about that. I think you guys have come to the conclusion now that I suck at updating (But I always come back eventually!) I want to update before I go to bed so I don't have time to respond to reviews right now BUT I LOVE EVERYONE OF YOU AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING, they're so special to me and I'll try and respond tomorrow. THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME! x**


	39. Soup

**Chapter 39:**

A long week dragged by and Bucky tried to stay as far away from Charley as possible, finding it too hard to be around her. He hadn't meant to keep his distance, but every time he happened to find himself outside her door a nervous flare would fire up in him and his legs would stop being able to move. Well, they'd stop moving _unless_ he was running off in the other direction.

He tried to stay out of most people's way, unless they were the nurses or doctors of Charley who he would constantly stop in the hallway to ask about her current condition. It was better than having to view her himself, he couldn't stand it if he saw her in anything other than perfect condition. It had gotten to the point where he had spoken to the nurses more than he had spoken to Steve, in seventy years.

The man himself; Steve, returned two days earlier with only Sam and Wanda by his side. Apparently Clint and the tiny ant-man guy had families they needed to look after and had gone off into hiding on their own.

Sam had been spending the most time with Charley thus far. Perhaps it was how normal the guy was if you take away the bird suit, he was practically a civilian without it. And _maybe_ the guy was quite funny when he stopped glaring and sending Bucky his deadpanned stare. Whatever it was that made Charley respond to him, it only made Bucky hate Sam further. He knew there was nothing more than friendship between them but the thought of her being comfortable around someone, but not around him just made his burning envy of Sam much more stronger.

He knew avoiding Charley wasn't what was best for her but after last time, the dog tags swinging around his chest as he punched at the punching bag one Friday evening in the gym, were a reminder that she truly had no idea who he was.

Most of his nights now were spent in the gym. It gave him a good place to think without bothering anyone else. He hated sleeping, as his nights were plagued with nightmares, so he only went back to his room whenever he could feel himself about to collapse from the lack of sleep. He hated conversing with the others, Sam he hated as it was but Wanda, he found, was just as annoying. He knew she meant no harm but knowing she had the ability to warp and look into his mind reminded him too much of Hydra, so he kept firmly away from her whenever possible.

"Have you seen her today?" Steve asked his usual question whenever he saw Bucky. Bucky rolled his eyes and continued taking his misery out on the punching bag before him. They were specially designed as Steve and Bucky had kept punching them off the chains.

"What do you think." He retaliated, thinking Steve had come in to join him for a late evening sparring session or just to workout but looked up to see him wearing his regular everyday clothes, sitting down opposite him and he realized Steve hadn't come here to work out but rather to talk which Bucky had been actively trying to avoid, "spoke to her nurses though, apparently she's doing good."

"I spoke to Sam, he says she's not doing so good."

"Of course you spoke to Sam," Bucky gritted his teeth, focusing on the punching bag pretending it was the bird man's face and managing to hit it squarely in the middle.

"I wouldn't _have_ to ask Sam if you went to go see her," Steve said. Bucky could tell he was slowly getting more annoyed as he got up and took hold of the punching bag, preventing Bucky from hitting it further, "Sam's just trying to be there for her, they're good friends. Perhaps you should too."

"I've already seen her, she doesn't want me there."

"Wanting and needing are different things," Steve let go of the punching bag but remained in front of it, sternly crossing his arms as if they were seventeen again and he was telling Bucky off for standing up a doll on a date. Back then it didn't bother him, he never had any intention of continuing relationships after a few dates. Charley was a completely different situation. Bucky had a good mind to punch him and wipe the stern look off of his face, "She needs you right now."

He knew he was right but that didn't mean he wasn't annoyed because he wasn't telling him what he wanted to hear.

"I don't know what the nurses have been telling you, maybe they're sparing your feelings but she had a relapse today-"

"What?" Bucky looked up in shock.

"It's her third one this week, Buck"

Bucky frowned, dismissing the punching bag and collapsing onto a bench. He knew it had only been wishful thinking that she was going to be fine, that the nurses would deal with everything and she'd be magically better. Bucky knew exactly why she wasn't recalling anything. It was because of where she was being kept, hidden in a room like some prisoner, unable to hold or look at anything that might jog her memory. Bucky only started remembering because he had seen Steve again… a reminder of his past. Memory was delicate and it needed guiding.

"She keeps asking Sam if she's a prisoner here…" Steve drifted off, seeing Bucky take in his words with shock. After a moment of silence, Steve crouched down to his level, "I'm not saying that it's going to be easy but I'm saying this as a friend of yours and of hers. She deserves better than how you're treating her and you know it."

Bucky slowly nodded, "Have they let her out of that room yet?"

"The doctors say she's got to go a week without a relapse before they let her out or she could harm other people."

Sighing to himself, he rose from where he stood, "I'll go see her in the morning."

"No, _now_. Otherwise you'll change your mind," Bucky glared at Steve's harsh tone and he sighed against his better judgement, "I'll go with you, but you've got to see her now. She's really struggling."

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Pacing back and forth all day was all she ever did, her eyes scanning the door for the next doctor that would come in and told her she needed to rest or prick her with some needles, or demand she take some medication to 'help with the stress'. The worst was when they asked her how she was…

 _How did they think she was!_ She screamed in her head, not able to avoid gritting her teeth and letting out an angry whistle of breath as she paced further around the room.

Stuck in a room all day without anyone's company but her own and with no memory. The only joy to her day was whenever that Sam guy came to visit her, and even then she had no idea who he was. He felt more like a psychiatrist that would keep trying to get her to look on the positive side of things, than a friend. Another man named Steve came every so often, but she didn't feel as comfortable around him as Sam. Perhaps it was the fact Sam was able to make her laugh despite constantly being in this dull room and left to her own thoughts

Surprisingly, her thoughts were mostly occupied with that James man (or Bucky as he had named himself, which she found slightly odd. There was nothing wrong with the name James and what kind of name was Bucky anyway…). She found herself thinking that she wouldn't mind if it was him that walked through the doors. He had seemed to understand the most of what she was going through. She wondered why he hadn't come back, he had made it out to be that they were close before… before her memories were wiped. It was just confusing.

She circled the room one more time before flopping back down onto the bed, her legs starting to hurt from the pacing.

She looked across at her bedside table where there were a few items they had _so_ generously given her. A pack of playing cards, a collection of books (which she had already worked her way through… not that she thought she was much of a reader but there was nothing else to do) and a tablet, which they had blocked most websites. There was just a few mobile games that she spent her days trying to beat the high score of. For a few hours she'd sometimes stare at the brand on the back of the Tablet; Stark, and felt as if she was missing something. She was sure she recognized that name.

There was also a gym machine in the corner of her room, which they had added, but she often felt too tired or weak to do anything like that.

Whilst Sam insisted she wasn't a prisoner, she had spent an hour today trying to wedge open her door with no luck. Her hands were now red and sore from the struggle.

She had nothing to do. Her mind was a prison enough, with no memories of anything. Nothing at all. Sometimes she'd catch a glimpse of something, if she concentrated really hard, but with nothing to remind her of it, the memory would soon fade into oblivion. Everything was gone, she had no purpose. Sometimes when she showered she thought about drowning herself as she thought it would make no difference. James had told her that she couldn't go home because she was a war criminal, so she had no family around to care, _he_ had abruptly stopped visiting her and Sam and Steve were the only person who seemed to care and even then, it didn't feel like they were friends.

In a fit of rage, she grabbed the nearest thing she could find and tossed it against the room. It was the tablet they had given her. It smashed in half, the screen cracking and the insides full of chips and wires fell out, spilling over the floor. Still not feeling any release or satisfaction, she grabbed the second closest thing. Fisting the sheets on her bed, she curled up into a ball so she was no longer sitting on them and attempted to rip the sheets in half. After three tries the sound of a gripping rip suddenly filled the air. It was something to do, destroying everything around her. Something other than sitting and thinking. But it wasn't enough.

She knew she looked crazy but she didn't care.

Why should she?

She grabbed the books next and began to shred them to pieces, screaming as she did so and tossing them blindly across the room. Tears showered her. Her cries only increased when she accidently stepped on the broken glass of the tablet. But she didn't stop to check if she was bleeding, the pain in her foot was more than anything she had felt in the past week, so she embraced it.

Coming to a halt in front of the mirror, she got a glimpse of her reflection. She looked like a mess, she hadn't brushed her hair in days and she'd given up cleaning her teeth, showering was pointless. Her clothes stuck to her as she hadn't changed in a few days. Each day they'd bring her a new set of clothes but they now remained crammed in the corner of the room, untouched. She was thinner, she noticed, not in a glamorous way as her bones become more prominent and her once round face was shrunken and shallow. She knew she had barely eaten, anything except the daily soups the nurses brought her, but she didn't realize it had affected her this way.

She didn't understand why they had put a mirror there, and why it was so large. It felt unnatural and out of place in the room.

Disgusted by her own reflection, she strutted over to the chair that was beside her bed which Sam usually sat on. Feeling weak, her arms struggled to carry it but with a great heave of strength she managed to launch it at the mirror. Glass sprayed everywhere and Charley ducked down to cover herself. Her feet were still exposed and she still felt several pricks cut at her leg where glass shattered over her.

When the sound of falling glass stopped, she looked up expecting to see a bare wall but saw the other side of a hallway. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized it had been a one way window to look in on her.

Anger fuelled her as she understood now that they had been able to watch her this whole time, without her knowing. In a haste, she darted for the window, and using the chair she had just thrown, clambered up through it, glass cut at her hands as she used the edge of the window as leverage but she didn't care, she was already aware blood was trickling down her legs. This was her one chance at escaping, she didn't care if she was a criminal, she wanted to get to the one thing she could remember and that was her mum.

As soon as she got into the hallway there was two ways she could go, left or right. She saw people approaching from the left side of the hallway so she made a lucky guess and began sprinting right. Unluckily, they spotted her diving away from them. She heard shouts behind her and suddenly the thumping of footsteps. Either that or her heart was racing incredibly fast. The hallways were like a maze as she took many guesses, pushing past people who got in her way.

There was no time to stop and look at the view, apparently they were in some sort of jungle. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a large, impressive statue of some sort of cat in the distance. She tried not to focus on it, even though it was rather distracting. She'd have to worry about trekking through the jungle to escape later. Right now she needed to focus on outrunning the people chasing her.

 _Not a prisoner, my ass_ she thought as she ran. Adrenaline was her main cause of continuing as she could feel her legs starting to slow her down as the pain started to set in. No matter whether or not she was supposedly surrounded by Superhero (as James had said) apparently her body was not used to running so fast. Feeling herself slow down she decided she could try and hide but they were too close behind her. There must have been half a dozen chasing her now.

As she began a light sprint she looked around for places to hide but was suddenly cut off. Her body paralysed and she was unable to move.

She tried to wiggle but it was no good. She looked down confused, already in half a run but it felt like her body had gone limp. Surrounding her was some sort of red glowing mist, it warped its way around her body.

Panic setting in she looked around for the source as her eyes rested on a girl who looked no older than twenty. Her arms were extended out as the red mist seemed to be coming from her.

"I'm sorry Charley," the brunette woman said with a slight accent as she mispronounced her name, "I know what it's like to be trapped someone everyone is saying is a safe place. They were wrong to lock you in your room, but you _are_ safe here."

"Who the fuck are you?" Charley hissed at Wanda as her body was swiftly moved away from the door she had been heading too, with just a flick of the wrist, "let me go. I'm getting out! I don't want to be stuck here anymore."

"What's going on?" Charley heard the sounds of two footsteps approaching. She managed to just about turn her head as she saw the guy; Steve approaching with James following closely behind him who was assessing the situation in confusion.

She supposed Steve was the leader as he walked closer towards the witch and placed an arm on her arm, lowering it and whispering something in her ear that Charley couldn't hear. The red mist disappeared. Her anger only heighted though, specifically at Steve. If he was the leader then it was him that was keeping her here.

She decided to not risk attacking him (even though she wanted too) but rather take this opportunity to run towards the door but she hadn't even ran a foot when someone grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards. Curling her fist up she prepared to swing it at whoever was gripping her tightly. However, her wrist was caught by a metal one as he easily deflected her punch.

"LET ME GO!" Charley screamed as loud as she could and she was pleased to see James physically wince, "Why am I stuck here?"

"Charley, I need you to calm down."

"Calm down!" She cried, her voice going an octave higher, "You locked me in that room, I wasn't allowed to leave and I don't remember anything. I WON'T FUCKING CALM DOWN!"

At some point James's grip on her arm slackened and Charley used this is snap away from his grasp and pull back her fist again. This time, however, her arm was caught by the red mist again. She span around and glared at the bloody witch.

"I swear to god lady!"

"Maximoff,don't stop her," James stressed, "She can hit me if she likes, she's just scared."

The rest mist disappeared instantly and Charley continued with what she had planned and with all her might swung her fist at James. It should have hurt but she barely felt it and with a great annoyance James barely responded. He still had one arm on her wrist and she could tell he was scarily strong, there was no way she could make another escape unless he let go so she continued to punch at his chest.

Each punch she sent him, more tears clouded her vision. She just wanted to go home. She could remember home. Well, she knew she had one. She couldn't remember what it looked like. Just that it was somewhere out there. She needed to find it. She was sure if home was standing in front of her, she'd recognize it. She was sure, "please," her throat hitched, becoming hoarser and hoarser by the minute, "Please. I- I don't know where I am. I don't know who I am. Help me, please"

Her knees collapsed beneath her. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep or the running or the crying or the pain the suddenly exploded in her legs from the cuts she'd received from the glass. But she could no longer stand. James seemed to catch on as he wrapped an arm around her and crouched down with her on the floor.

"Doll face, it'll be alright," He whispered into her ear so only she could hear. From his voice she could only guess that he was crying too as he cradled her head with his metal arm, "I'm sorry."

She could only cry further and she could no longer see because of the tears.

"I just want to remember." She pleaded, as if pleading with James would help her, as if he could hand her memories back on a plate and she would remember everything, "help me."

There was a pause and Charley sank into James's chest, the comfort of the embrace was well needed and overdue, "I will, I'd do anything to help you doll."

An idea formed in her head as she steadily looked up at James. He pulled away along with her. She hadn't ever seen him this close before; she could just about see a scar above his upper lip and bruising still around his eye. She hoped that wasn't from him but was sure it was still from the fight two weeks ago.

"Could you take me home? Back to my parents, I want to see them"

She felt James's breathing stop and she thought for a moment it was a dead no. After all, he had told her they were criminals. She should have figured, it was asking way too much to travel away from this so called safe base. No, she was going to be stuck here with only a slim chance that she'd get her memories back.

"Yes, we can," James said quickly with a definite not to the head.

"Buck – it's too dangerous," Steve cut in. Momentarily James moved away from her and Charley could no longer rest her head on his shoulders. As soon as she moved away she missed the feel of him, the comfort of his embrace as a coldness swept over her.

James glared up at his friend, "I don't care. She needs to get her memories back." He stared Steve down until he finally gave in, with a quick nod of the head to give his approval.

"Come on, let's leave them to it," Steve ushered the witch away, along with the nurses and doctors that had wasted their energy chasing after her.

James returned to hugging her and she felt the back of her head soothingly being stroked.

"Thank-you," She mumbled into his ear.

"You never have to thank me, doll."

"I do, you've saved my arse twice now."

She heard a slight huff of laughter, "You saved me long before that."

 **A/N probably the quickest update I've done in awhile, eh? Hope you all enjoyed, this chapter went in a completely different direction than planned. I had originally only thought of having Bucky go back to England and collect a few items for Charley to remember but I prefer this better, them getting to know one another again on a road trip to England.**

 **THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL THE REVIEWS**

 **Becca: dw, she'll get back on track eventually with Bucky's help (now that he is actually helping her rather than running scared) thanks for the lovely review, hope you enjoy this chappy :D**

 **XxNimith531xX: haha, sorry about that, thanks for the review**

 **.2017: thank you so much lovely!**

 **Artemis7448: really really sorry about the tears. Lol, thanks so much for the review, glad you enjoyed. Hope you love this chapter just as much :D**


	40. Bucky, not James

**Chapter 40**

It didn't take Bucky long to find Charley after an hour long briefing with T'challa, Steve and a bunch of other serious looking men. All there to help him plane his route to England. Charley was curled up in one of the cafeterias arm chairs. Her head titled to one side as her eyes roamed the jungle before her. A large window, in the cafeteria, displayed the Wakanda jungle for all its glory and gave a perfect view of the Black Panther statue.

He stayed watching for a few minutes. She was in perfect tranquillity. Possibly the most relaxed he'd seen her in weeks. It was refreshing, to say the least. He couldn't stand to watch her fall apart more than she already had.

He noticed she kept bowing her head down to look at something on her lap and Bucky scooted a little to the left, curious to see what it was but the movement alerted Charley as saw him out of the corner of her eye. She turned ever so slightly to see him standing there.

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, "What were you doing there?"

"Just looking for you."

"You sure," Her eyes narrowed further, "because I feel like you've been there a long time."

"I think you're seeing things."

Unconcerned, Charley shrugged and went back to looking at the view. She sighed wistfully, "Sometimes I think I'm in a really long and bad dream to be honest, so I wouldn't be all that surprised."

"It's time to wake you up then," Bucky said with a frown. He knew how she was feeling, as if everything was a really long, out drawn cloudy nightmare, "the planes ready to go whenever."

"Thanks, James."

Every time she called him this, instead of Bucky, he'd be pitifully reminded of the cold silver chain dangling uncomfortably around his neck, "No problem."

She returned back to what looked like a drawing in her lap –a very bad drawing- of the Black Panther statue. He wasn't sure what she was seeing but the black panther statue certainly didn't have five legs or almost square shaped eyes.

"What is this exactly?" he pointed at the work of 'art'. She quickly jumped the notepad away from his eyesight and drew it close to her chest as she realized he was peeking over her shoulder.

"I _know_ it's shit before you mention it," she said with an added stern look, "And don't spy."

"I wasn't," He held his hands up in surrender and retreating back, wanting nothing more than to gain her trust, "It's just a very strange way to draw the statue. Any reason you're drawing?"

She huffed a sigh, seemingly giving up as she chucked the notebook at the coffee table in front of her and turning to face him fully in the chair. Excited at the prospect of having an actual conversation with her, Bucky sat quickly on a nearby chair. Despite acting a lot more comfortable around him, she had yet to open up.

"The doctor said that I should try out some hobbies and activities that I might have been good at before, to try and jog my memory. I've tried reading, writing and the gym – Which I hate by the way – I thought I'd give art a go," She paused to eye at the drawing on the coffee table, it was then that Bucky noticed the odd pages sticking out at other terrible attempts that Charley had tried at drawing, "Apparently I'm terrible at that too."

"You'll find something you're good at soon," he said with a smile.

With a hopeful stare she said, "Do you know what I used to be good at?"

Bucky contemplated for a moment, not sure whether he should go there. He was sure her memory would improve better if she discovered that out for herself. However, he couldn't resist her desperate stare.

"You used to be pretty good at singing," He said, picking up the notebook full of drawings and flicked through. He frowned when he saw one she'd tried to draw of Sam. The only reason she knew it was him was because she'd written his name by the side of the drawing.

"Singing?" She stared dumbfounded, "you must be wrong."

"You used to sing in the shower all the time," Bucky nodded eying a picture of a bird. It was possibly the best one in there. He could at least tell what it was supposed to be, "back at the apartment."

"Did we used to live together, then?"

Bucky was mid-way through turning a page when he paused. He hadn't meant to tell her anything like that, it was uncharted territory as he knew full well she'd start having ideas about the kind of relationship they had. It would place too much pressure on her and that was the last thing he nodded. Nevertheless he _also_ didn't want to lie, as that would do no good to her memory.

"For a brief period."

Wanting to avoid further questioning as he could see the curious frown on her face beginning to form, if he didn't do something to divert the attention she was going to ask more. Just as her mouth opened, Bucky jumped up quickly and sped towards the nearest worker in the cafeteria.

"Could you play an artist called Avril Lavigne," Bucky gestured to the ceiling where he assumed the soft sound of a radio was playing in the background. The worker nodded and disappeared. A few moments later the radio cut out and a different tune entirely began to play.

The slow start to the song 'I'm with you' began to play, Bucky recognized the song from the many times Charley had played it out loud on her phone, in the shower before work or their car trips together. He smiled at the memory, whilst he was still on the run and an ex-Hydra agent, they still seemed like the simpler times.

 _I'm standing on a bridge  
I'm waitin' in the dark  
I thought that you'd be here by now  
There's nothing but the rain  
No footsteps on the ground  
I'm listening but there's no sound_

"What's this supposed to be," despite being a Hydra's most valued weapon due to his skill set in analysing situations, he still found the hardest person to read at times was the woman he loved. Her face remained unreadable. He couldn't tell if she recognized the song, if she was confused or if she was sad at the idea of _not_ remembering any of it.

"it's a song," Bucky shrugged as if it was obvious, "try singing it."

"In front of everyone?" Charley's eyes widened. There wasn't many people in the cafeteria as it was only two in the afternoon, "And I don't even know the lyrics. I've never heard this song before."

 _Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home  
It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I, I'm with you_

" _Yes_ you have."

"I really don't think so…"

He moved closer to her and took hold of her hand. He could feel her hands tense under his, as he pulled her off the chair and into the middle of the floor, "just try."

"So you're telling me Charley would have just started singing in the middle of a public area?"

He sighed, "Stop trying to _be_ like Charley. You are Charley, be yourself."

He learnt this very shortly after staying with Charley, that trying to be the man from the 1940's brought nothing back but feeling as if he was living a false life, living as someone who wasn't him. He didn't want Charley to make that same mistake.

"Avril Lavigne you say?" She considered for a moment, "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."

"Try singing it," Bucky pushed, desperate to see if he can help her.

 _I'm looking for a place  
I'm searching for a face_

"Is anybody here I- I know…?" she sang part of the song, sounding slightly off key, which was surprising as Bucky had never heard her sing any Avril Lavigne song's wrong. She looked at Bucky to see his reaction, to see if she had sung the right lyrics and her face immediately brightened up as he nodded "Is anybody here I know – Oh my god, I know it, I've never even heard it before but I know it!"

 _Cause nothings going right  
And everything's a mess  
And no one likes to be alone_

"What'd I tell you," Bucky grinned as she suddenly pulled away from him and did a two-step dance on the stop, throwing her hands in the air as if possessed.

"I remembered something!" visible tears began forming in her eyes and Bucky moved to console her, not knowing what he'd done wrong but she jumped back, still smiling, "No, no don't worry I'm crying cause I'm happy. I know it's only a small thing but I remember!"

"Baby steps," Bucky nodded.

" _Baby steps_ ," She agreed.

"How about we get on that plane to England and see about getting you some more memories."

 _Isn't anyone tryin' to find me?  
Won't somebody come take me home  
It's a damn cold night  
Trying to figure out this life  
Won't you take me by the hand  
Take me somewhere new  
I don't know who you are  
But I, I'm with you_

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The journey to England was long. With no one but Charley to keep him company who had fallen asleep pretty much as soon as the plane had taken off, Bucky had turned his attention to the pilot and wished T'challa had allowed him to fly the plane himself.

He knew that there was a very slim chance that the pilot was a Hydra agent but he could never be too alert and for the time being – at least until they were in the air – this pilot was in control of his life. It was a position Bucky never liked being in. Someone holding that much trust was something he actively tried avoiding.

He looked over at Charley. Her head had rolled forward making her cheeks squish against the window and her mouth hang half open. The adorable but clearly uncomfortable position she was laying in made Bucky chortle but he recovered quickly, scared he'd wake her.

She was who he trusted. Her and Steve. He'd put his life in their hands if it came down to it. Goodness knows the two of them had saved his life countless times over. Now it was time to repay the favour.

They had only been on the plane for half an hour and he was already bored out of his mind. He tried looking out of the window but only saw the expansion of clouds before him, stretching further than his eyes could reach. He would attempt at sleeping but his mistrust for the pilot stopped him.

Instead he dug inside his pockets, to the very depth of them where he pulled out a roughly folded letter. The edges smeared as if they'd been hidden in his pockets for a few days.

Someone had given him the letter two days ago. It came as a shock at first as Bucky hadn't received post for the past seventy years but when he saw the writing and his own name (that felt so foreign to him) written plainly on the front, he took a good guess at who it was from.

 _Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes_

It was this name that had always stopped him from opening. It had been so long since he'd seen his full name with the title of 'sergeant', it almost felt wrong as if he knew he didn't deserve it. He'd killed so many innocent lives.

Looking once more to Charley's sleeping form for one last hint of bravery, he ripped open the letter and began to read slowly, letting each word soak in.

 _I'm in my last few days. Of course people haven't directly told me that, but they all know and as do I. I can barely hold the pen but with what last few days and hours I have left I'd like to leave a final piece of advice for you._

 _You and I are a lot alike, both having lost memories of our past. Some days I can barely remember my own name and I know you can understand my suffering, after what Hydra did to you._

 _But my point of this letter was not to reflect on my past and current pain, nor to express how similar we are, but rather to show our differences. I envy you, for you are young enough to put together the pieces of your past, or if not that, make new memories for the future. Please, for my sake, don't take this opportunity in vain. Don't waste your years hiding from your past._

 _All the best_

 _Margret Elizabeth Carter_

He stared at the letter, eyes brimming with tears. Guilt washing over him. After hearing of Peggy's recent death he had wanted to attend her funeral, but thought better of it. Half the people there would have been ex-Shield agents out for his blood.

She was right, she was always right. There had been a reason Steve had fallen for the British agent all those years ago. She was possibly one of the wisest and smartest people Bucky had ever met.

He needed to focus on the future. That meant no more running from his past, no matter what happened he would stick around _for_ the promise of a future.

The word future felt funny on his tongue. He'd never really thought of it before. Not properly, he was always sure Hydra was after him. They still were but with Steve by his side he was sure they'd be able to overcome Hydra together. Again.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

"Are we here?" Charley mumbled, still half asleep and Bucky nudged her shoulder again to keep her from closing her eyes again.

"yeah we are," Bucky nodded, "but we've got to do this quickly. You probably know by now that we're running from the law."

She gave a nod to know she understood.

"T'challa has managed to set up a car for us but we've landed in quite an open place and need to be quick getting there. Just follow me."

By hand he guided her out of the plane. The pilot handed them the little luggage the two had brought with them which managed to fit into one small duffle bag. Bucky barely had any items anyway and all of Charley's belongings were here in England.

"Thanks," he nodded stiffly to the pilot and Charley gave a cheery grin. He was still half wary the pilot was about to pull a gun on the two of them, and he kept a tight hand on Charley, prepared to pull her behind him at any moment.

"Where to now?"

"Over there," he spotted a black SUV with the same number plate he'd been warned to remember. He looked around for any CCTV cameras. When he spotted none, with linked hands with Charley, he quickly jogged towards the car, throwing their luggage in the back.

"Where too now?"

"First your apartment."

"Where's that?" She asked innocently, but he could sense the pain she felt from not knowing where her home was.

"it's south east of London," Bucky said, keeping it plain. He thought maybe letting her work out the exact location for herself would be better for jogging her memory. Maybe she'd even recognize the apartment as soon as they got there. He wanted nothing more than to show her, her old apartment back in Washington. _That_ was where most of their memories were shared. But he'd already considered it and he'd researched it. The apartment was already being rented to someone else.

He was momentarily stunned on her next question that for a second he forgot how to drive and reared off to the left, "Is that where we used to live together?"

Stunned by her sudden questioning again of when they used to live together, Bucky could think of nothing to change the topic to and realized he'd have to answer eventually. Even though hadn't wanted to pressure her into thinking there was more to their relationship than friendship. However, he could understand her curiosity completely.

"Sorry… if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's not like that," Bucky quickly said as he managed to keep the car steadily on the road, "I just wasn't expecting you to bring it up."

"Sam mentioned that's how me and him met, because they found out I was living with you all that time."

"Sam, yeah…" Bucky trailed off, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice as she mentioned bird-man, "course he said that…"

"I think sometimes Sam thinks I already know things…" Charley adjusted in her seat as if uncomfortable but at a closer look he saw she just felt awkward speaking her feelings out loud like this, "like he'll tell me a story of something we did together and obviously I can't remember but I think he expects me too. I don't know, it's kind of annoying really, I know he's trying to help but it just makes me feel miserable. I guess it's hard for people to remember I can't remember anything, so they just expect me to know,"

"Sorry about that."

"It's alright, it's not like it's your fault or anything."

Bucky inwardly cringed to himself, knowing that it was his fault. If he'd never known her, she would have never been put in that situation. He wanted to tell her this, it was probably better off if she hated him, hated him for losing all her memories that ever fall in love with him again. He wanted to say this, but thought back to Peggy's letter and instead kept silent.

 _Stop dwelling on the past,_ he corrected himself angrily.

"So, did we used to live here?"

"Um… no," he answered quickly, "that was a different apartment in Washington."

"I lived in Washington at some point!" she gave a squeal in surprise and he suddenly felt a lot more at ease as smaller parts of the old Charley were beginning to shine through, "wow," she gasped in amazement.

Bucky allowed a grin to slip; just glad she wasn't dwelling on their relationship status, "What's so amazing about that?"

"Just, I never expected to be one of those people who moved from England to America. America sounds awesome." Bucky came to a stop at a red light and spotted a CCTV camera on the nearby street. He was sure the windows were blacked out but he leaned back in his chair nevertheless… just to be cautious. But, his thoughts immediately turned to Charley as she sobered up, asking, "Did I have a good life before all of this? It's just with me apparently being friends with superheroes and stuff, it just seems really out there. I feel like I'm in a dream and I need to wake up but – was my life good?"

He paused and almost missed the light going green again. Charley had always said she hated her life, working at target was hell for her, she barely had any money to get by and she almost never spoke to her parents. Before he came into her life he figured she'd been very lonely. He'd told her that if he hadn't come by she would have left for England much sooner.

"I thought your life was amazing," he completed, after a minute of thought, "It felt so simple and I loved that."

"The simple life," She assessed with a sharp nod to the head as if she agreed that it did sound nice.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

They arrived at what Bucky had assumed was Charley's old apartment. He had only been given coordinates and only knew where she had lived in the past year by address. He had never actually seen it in person. The area around the apartment building seemed to be falling apart and he could already tell it was a cheap place to rent. A gang of teenagers hung outside lighting cigarettes, dustbins had been overturned and parts of the apartment building were falling off.

"Is this it?" Charley asked apprehensively, eyeing up the teenagers suspiciously.

"You tell me, I've never been here," he gauged for a reaction but he still couldn't tell whether she recognized it or not.

"Number twenty two, didn't you say?"

His heart jumped twice as fast, "I never said a number."

"Yes you did- I swear you did."

"No I didn't," he grinned as Charley's eyes danced with hope, "but it is number twenty two. See baby-steps, you remembered."

"Yeah I guess I did…" She smiled, "Thanks James."

What little happiness he'd felt diminished on that one name, "please call me Bucky."

"Sorry, I guess it just felt too intimate," she admitted, "I will in future I promise. Bucky…"

He asked her if she could guide him to the exact apartment. Nervously she took lead whilst Bucky scanned the area cautiously looking out for any government or Hydra agents who would be expecting them back, but saw nothing.

Not wanting to alarm Charley that he suspected someone might be there he decided he would take lead from then on. He'd have better control over the situation. They reached apartment twenty-two and Bucky managed to pick the lock with ease. It looked like she hadn't been that strict on security in the year that he'd been gone, something they'd need to have a serious talk about when she got her memories back.

Suddenly a jet of blonde sprung at them. Charley squealed and ducked behind the table as Bucky took the full force of the punch, taken by surprise. But he quickly recovered and used his metal arm to grab hold of the slender frame of the woman who had pounced on them, wrapping his arm around her leg. She used him holding her leg to her advantage as she jumped into the air, using his arm as leverage.

"Charlotte," came a recognizable voice that Charley couldn't quite place. She peered around the side of the table only to see Bucky pin the woman down, his hands around her neck tightening.

"Is this how we're going to greet each other from now on, Barnes," Natasha Romanoff chocked back air.

Bucky let go upon recognizing the usually red haired assassin. But his guard was not down as he eyed the apartment for further agents and spies lingering. After all Romanoff had been on Tony's side and was trying to get them arrested.

"Relax, no one is here but me," She saw his panic, "they're after me just as much as you, after I let you and Steve get away. You're _welcome_ by the way." Her lips curved up into a smirk to let her know she was only joking.

He still remained silent but glared at her. It was a technique he'd employed as the winter solider, staring down his targets to get them to talk as it made them feel uncomfortable and he wanted to know every detail of why Romanoff was in Charley's apartment.

"That technique is seventy years old Barnes," Natasha saw through his act and he realized he'd have to just ask her why she was here, "don't play games with me. Just ask what you want to know."

"Why are you here?"

" _Good question_. I Wanted a place to lay low and there's no place better than to hide where the law has already looked. This is the last place they'll look because it's where she's expected to be."

Bucky's glare hardened, "So you thought you'd stay here without her permission."

"How exactly was I going to ask, I didn't know where you were…" she fired up and as if she was about to ask _where_ they had been, but thought better of it. It was just as well because Bucky was never going to trust that sort of information with her, "And anyway, I knew she wasn't going to be using it and I'm really surprised you're here actually." She turned her focus to Charley who hadn't said a word through the whole encounter but remained ducked under the table, looking to Bucky to see whether it was safe to stand up, "you alright there, Charlotte."

"Um, yeah," Charley coughed, nervously playing with the sleeves of her denim jacket, "Sorry… who are you again?"

"You're joking right," Natasha's brows furrowed together in confusion, "I know I changed my hair to blonde but I don't look that different, do I?"

Bucky shrugged, feeling incredibly awkward. On one hand he didn't trust the Russian spy, she had been on Stark's side fighting _against_ them. He didn't want to divulge anything to her and had half a mind to tell her to leave immediately. _But_ she had let them escape, and Charley seemed to be good friends with her. Plus Steve seemed to trust her. He growled against his better judgement and explained, "Her memories have been wiped."

Natasha furiously span around to face him, "What? Like you were?"

Guilt festering inside of him, he slowly nodded.

"Tell me how?"

"There aren't any bugs in the apartment are there?" It was supposed to be the first thing he checked when he entered but he'd been side tracked by getting attacked. It was sort of distracting.

"No," Natasha shook her head, scanning the apartment again with slit eyes as if double checking, "I mean, there was _some_ but I got rid of them, I presumed it was the government or Tony-"

"Hydra," Bucky said with a low growl, cutting her off. He couldn't escape them, could he? Charley seemed to see the change in his face as she grabbed hold of his arm and he realized just how tense he had become. The thought of Hydra having been listening and spying on Charley while he wasn't there made him want to hunt them down and kill them all.

"Who are Hydra?" Charley questioned, "isn't that a creature in Greek mythology?"

He sighed to himself, he didn't want to explain all of this again. He _needed_ her to remember soon. He'd never seen Natasha look so surprised at anyone, as she stared at Charley with an open mouth.

"What happened?" and this is how Bucky started a half an hour conversation with the Russian spy about the events of the last few days. Leaving out certain bits such as Tony turning up, the discovering of Bucky having killed his father and their location in Wakanda.

"So you don't remember anything?" Natasha finally asked Charley who had given up listening, she'd probably heard the story of how she'd lost her memoires a thousand times. Instead she had been pacing the apartment. Bucky had found himself getting side tracked with his narrative every time she picked up something and seemed to gasp as if remembering. Especially when she'd picked up her cat's bowl.

"I remember her!" She cheered half way through Bucky's speech, "I remember something, Bucky!"

He tried to contain his bitterness that she'd remembered a cat over him but instead shared in her joy.

"See, it was just a case of recontextualizing yourself," Bucky grinned from ear to ear, "more will come back soon."

Charley smiled and went back to picking up odd photographs of her family. This particular one was with her sister. Bucky realized with a heavy heart that there was no pictures of him and her in the room.

"This is bad," Natasha assessed, under her breath, as she analysed their interaction carefully, "Is the cat the first thing she's remembered?"

"one of, yep…" Bucky pouted.

"Have you tried hitting her around the head really hard?"

"What?"

"It worked with Clint," Natasha shrugged casually, ""Give it time, she clearly trusts you already or she wouldn't be here with you."

She placed a hand on his shoulder sympathetically and Bucky instinctively moved away from it, unused to being comforted, especially with someone who he'd tried to kill a few times. Natasha repelled for a moment, knowing she'd overstepped her mark and decided to turn back to the situation of her currently living in Charley's studio flat.

"I guess I'll be going then," she began heading towards the kitchen where she'd stashed a duffle bag of all belongings, "sorry for staying without asking," She smiled at Charley who only gave an awkward shrug.

"It's okay, I wasn't exactly using it and you clearly needed it," Charley said kindly, plastering a forced smile on her face, "You can stay if you want. Apparently all of my friends are running from the law so it's the least I could do."

Natasha flashed one of her more rare genuine smiles, "I knew you were always a great friend but I couldn't-"

"You could," Bucky nodded. Agreeing with Charley. It might be good for her memory, having someone else from her past around. Natasha's brows furrowed together confused at Bucky's genuine offer. Bucky shrugged and explained, "it might be good if Hydra really is snooping around to have an extra trained assassin with us-"

"Assassin?" Charley choked but nevertheless sighed a moment later, "ugh what the hell, there's nothing I don't believe anymore."

Natasha paused and Bucky could only guess she was weighing up the pros and cons of her decision. As a spy he knew she wasn't used to hiding out with other people, and probably preferred being alone. Missions were easy that way, less people to worry about and depend on.

After a while, however, things get too lonely. Perhaps - just maybe - she could use the company of some friends.

Natasha gave a long out drawn nod and said, "Sure. But no making out you two."

 **A/N okay so I just realized something. I completely forgot about Bucky having lost his arm and I only just realized having finished this chapter :/ I may have to go back and write that he didn't lose it to save myself the hassle. Thank you to all who are still here with me!**

 **Guest: Thank you so much!**

 **Becca: I can see, are you planning on writing any stories of your own? Thanks for the lovely review :D**

 **Deathbat666: sorry for taking so long to update and thank you for sticking with the story through all 39 chapters. I know I have the habit of being very grammatically incorrect and my spelling, truth is I tend to get over excited when I finish a chapter because it's taking me weeks to write and then rather than read it back properly, I just skim it and then post it immediately. I'll work better in the future :D thanks for the review, it means a lot.**

 **.2017: Thanks so much!**

 **XxNimith531xX: haha, Sorry about that :/ thanks so much for the review :D**


	41. Childhood memories

**Chapter 41:**

Bucky and Natasha begun talking in husky whispers in what Charley could only assume was Russian. No wanting to come between the two, she decided to venture further into her studio apartment after they settled that the Natasha women would be staying with them. She hoped seeing more things that were once her possessions would help her make sense of the small clips of memories she'd had.

Her hands naturally navigated to a framed picture of her and her cat and wondered thoughtfully where her cat was at present.

 _Probably at my parents_ , she answered her own questions. The abrupt thought of family made her stomach do a nasty somersault.

The uneasy feeling only got worse when she looked over at Bucky and Natasha close together as to keep their voices down. Not that they needed too, she couldn't understand what they were saying in the foreign language that she didn't know Bucky could speak. The apartment suddenly seemed to swell in size as she stared at them, the distance between her and them growing further and further.

She'd been so sure, from the hints that Sam had kept giving and Steve's insistence that Bucky was always there for her, that the two had been an item. Or at least something more than friends. Obviously she hadn't brought it up, scared she was wrong.

A small voice - that was getting louder and louder by the second - was telling her to stride over there and pull the two apart and make it plainly clear to Natasha the rules in which she was living under _her_ roof. But Charley had absolutely no idea if she had that sort of relationship with Bucky.

Bucky looked up momentarily, and smirked that he'd caught her staring. She loved his smile, it made his usual cold and shadowed face suddenly seem bright. She attempted to give what she hoped was a convincing smile back, but failed miserably.

She needed to get out of the room.

"I think I'm gonna go for a shower," Charley announced to no one in particular, choosing the door she _knew_ was the bathroom from memory. Now that she was actually in the apartment she recognized it so well.

"Is she okay?" Charley heard Natasha ask in a sudden change to English just as she closed the bathroom door. Quickly she leant up against it to hear what they were saying.

"I don't know…" Bucky replied in a quiet voice as though unsure of himself, "She's probably overwhelmed."

Deciding to turn the shower on to not raise suspicion she began to pace the floor to mull over everything. However, her legs quickly got tired so she resulted in sitting on the edge of the bath.

She was meant to be seeing her parents tomorrow, for what feels like the first time… yet, she had never felt more with dread. More and more memories were coming back to her. She could picture her mum now (and not just from the photographs dotted around the apartment, but from memory) and her cat – Mabel – her dad, her sister and brother. She remembered small parts of her childhood. Just small. She figured more would come back when she went to her childhood home. She remembered quarrelling with her sister over stealing her clothes. Her dads obsession for everything Tony Stark – _Stark_. There was that name again – her thoughts swam in a rush with more recent memories of getting her apartment here. Her brother helping her take all the stuff to and fro the car. Charley gripped the bath sides tight as more and more came flooding into her. The pounding of the shower water beating against the bath floor accumulating her thoughts. Her 18th birthday. Adopting Mabel. Working on a film set … But, out of all of this… she still couldn't figure where Bucky fit into all of this.

The life she was starting to remember seemed completely normal. There was no spies, or super agents or secret agencies, there was no a glimpse of a super-soldier or mysterious girls who could case red mist from their hands and thhere was no Bucky with his metal arm.

It was like she was living two separate lives.

' _Maybe I am'_ , she thought to herself, _'maybe I'm a secret agent too who has to keep her life hidden'._ She shook the thought off as quickly as it had come. There was no way _she_ was a spy.

Realising she'd have to look at least partly soaked, Charley stripped naked and dipped in the shower for a second before jumping out again. Deciding her hair was wet enough to be convincing she put back on her clothes and re-emerged in the apartment.

"How are you doing?" Natasha asked immediately. They had moved from their places in the far corner since she had gone into the bathroom. Bucky was on the couch having been watching TV, but now was _closely_ watching Charley and she could tell he was trying to guess what she was thinking.

"I'm doing okay," Charley lied, not feeling comfortable with Natasha enough yet to reveal how much she had remembered. Part of her wished she hadn't given her the option to stay so she could talk to Bucky – who she realised she felt much more relaxed with than she had expected to ever be – privately, "Anything interesting on?"

"News," Bucky said as she plopped down next to him, "I can change it if you want."

"No, it's fine." Just as she said this a man appeared on screen, shaved with the perfect goate, "That's Tony Stark… right?"

Bucky perked up in his seat, "You know him?"

"He was…" She trailed off, watching as Tony Stark mounted a podium, cameras flashing in front of his face, "No – he can't have been. Forget it."

"He was what?" Bucky edged forward on the couch to look at her.

The famous man began talking directly to the cameras. There was an air of laughter from the crowd as Stark made a sarcastic remark. He addressed the issue of the Avengers escaping some sort of prison. Charley had heard Steve mention something about it and glanced a curious eye to Bucky to see if he knew anything too.

But his eyes hadn't left hers, as he asked again, "Where did you recognize him from?"

"No where," She shrugged. Feeling silly. She had just had a flicker of something that could have been a memory but she was sure it wasn't real. It was hard telling the difference between her imagination and actual memories.

With an air or urgency he pressed forwards, "No, please, tell me where you know him from."

Stunned by the sudden desperation, she stuttered over her words, "um… well, I don't know, I- I just had a sort of memory of when you got us out of that base, after I- I lost all my memories. I suppose. Stupid I know. I don't even remember seeing him. He just reminded me of it"

"What memory?" Bucky urged further, "What did you see?"

Maybe he knew something she didn't, she wasn't sure what and didn't want to get his hopes up that she was remembering something as she was pretty sure the memory that had come into her head upon seeing this Tony Stark had no meaning and was just her imagination. Nevertheless she recited what she thought she'd seen, "I just remember there being that man with the tin suit. I never saw his face though…" She trailed off, suddenly having an idea, "This Stark guy isn't him is it?"

A genuine smile broke out onto Bucky's face.

"That's Tony Stark!" Bucky suddenly pointed at the screen with the sudden energy of a springer spaniel, "He's Iron Man! You remember him"

"I guess so," Charley half grinned, glad she was finally remembering something from her life with the superheroes, "So he was the man in the red and gold tin suit?"

"Yes!"

"Right…" Her thoughts turned back to the fight that had broken out after she'd first woken up. She had been so confused then, nothing had made sense. Steve had been trying to keep the tin ma- Tony Stark – away from her and Bucky so they could make their escape to freedom, "Wait! Wasn't he trying to kill us? Is he like a villain?"

Bucky's smile instantly faltered and his whole demeanour dropped and she panicked that she'd said something wrong. He glanced briefly at Natasha who seemed to get the hint immediately and make a quick excuse to leave the room, "I think I better take the bins out, be back soon." But oddly she left with no bin bags in her hand.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind her Bucky switched the Television off.

"Look," he began but stopped almost immediately having to compose himself, "there are things I've done in my past that I'm not proud off. Stark was – and rightly so – angry at me for something I did-"

"What did you-"

"I don't want to tell you." Bucky snapped and she recoiled at the harshness of her voice. It was a definite change from his usual voice that had the magic effect of calming her down. Silence stretched out between them, "Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I don't want to pry."

"It's not that I don't want too…" he said, "I do… I just… I'm just scared you'll look at me differently. You knew once before and you managed to overlook it and told me it wasn't my fault but I don't know how you'd react now."

"It can't have been that bad, surely…"

"You don't know my past." The dark edge to his voice was enough to shut Charley up from asking further. Instead she nodded and picked up the TV magazine lying absently on her coffee table to see if there was anything more interesting than the news on. She saw that a Disney film was playing and decided that would lighten the mood, but, before Charley could even change the channel, Bucky had abandoned the couch space beside her.

That night, she tossed and turned in bed. Sleep was becoming almost impossible lately, no matter how tired she was from travelling. She reasoned that if fell asleep now then tomorrow would loom even closer. The fear that she'd look at her parents and not even recognize them was enough to let out a loud groan of annoyance as she tossed to the other side of the bed, trying to find a comfier spot.

Natasha still hadn't returned from 'taking the bins out' and Bucky was now occupying the sofa, huddled in a ball of blankets. She felt bad, as there was enough room on her bed him to sleep next to her.

Finally she slipped into an unconscious state but her mind had never travelled faster.

Suddenly she was standing in a dark room. Everything was made of metal. Her feet were bare and felt exposed on the silvery reflective floor. She had no idea where she was – or who she was. She hoped to be able to see her reflection of herself in the floor but only saw darkness as she blinked and it was as if the lights in the room were switched off. Fear erupted in her. Instinctively she clutched herself tighter but found she was being bound. She was no longer standing, but sitting. Her hands strapped to the sides of the chair. She couldn't move. Not even to raise her head. Alone, she let out a scream and found she at least had use of her voice. The screams ripped through the air but no one heard.

Who would hear her anyway? She was alone. She was alone here as she was alone back in the apartment. How did she even get here? She had been in bed hadn't she… something in her head scolded her for being so pessimistic. Who had always been there for her? Who could she even scream out for?

"BUCKY!" her throat felt like it was ripping apart as she screamed out his name. The first name she thought of, "BUCKY!"

A face appeared. But it wasn't Bucky.

"I want the avengers to feel the pain I did when I lost my family," came the echo of Zemo's voice. She had to remember. Just remember. Bucky. Remember him.

"BUCKY!"

"Charley!" A voice screamed back with equal desperation, "Wake up doll face, come on!"

With a shudder she was startled awake as Bucky had physically shaken her shoulders so that she was now sitting up straight. Before she had time to breath Bucky wrapped his metal arm around her and pulled her towards him into a tightening embrace.

"It's okay," Bucky soothed, stroking the back of her hair that she could now feel was wet and sticky from sweat, "it was just a nightmare."

"I was in a room." Charley found her voice, panic rising within her as she recalled what she'd just seen. Had it been real? It felt like it, "it was so dark and- and I was strapped to a chair… some guy- the avengers. I couldn't remember."

"It's okay," Bucky sighed wistfully again and Charley allowed herself to relax into his arm, finding the embrace was the exact kind of comfort she needed. "I'm here."

Her eyes broke out into a well needed sob as she cried into his chest for the second time that week, "I was just so scared… I think-" she cut herself off trying to figure out how to phrase it without sounding mental, "I think I saw myself losing my memories. I never even thought to ask how I lost them… you told me before that some guy wiped them… I assumed you just meant he hit my head and I happened to forget… not this," Bucky didn't say anything and she took this as a positive sign that he didn't think she'd gone completely crazy, "But, there was a machine and some guy said he wanted to pull the avengers apart. No one was there and I was alone and all I remember is trying so desperately to keep remembering but it was impossible and I wanted to remember you most and I don't know… I just couldn't. It was horrible."

The question of what their relationship was rose in her mind again. She noted Bucky stiffening above her and she finally pulled away. Why had she been so desperate to remember him.

"Bucky, I've got to ask," she said, "What were we before?"

"It's complicated."

"But It's so confusing. We apparently used to live together and you were the last thing I thought off before I forgot everything and I don't understand, I saw you and Natasha earlier and you were speaking in another language to her. I thought you were trying to have a private moment between the two of you and to keep me out-"

Out of the blue, Bucky barked out laughing. Offended he'd laugh at such a time her teary eyes transformed into a glare, "excuse me…"

"No, it's not that," Bucky sobered quickly and she was glad to see he looked away quickly as if guilty, "It was just the thought of me and Romanoff together."

"You were speaking together really quietly earlier, in another language, I thought you were trying to have a moment without me listening in..." her voice As she said it now she realised how ridiculous she sounded, like a jealous ex-girlfriend. He was calling her; Romanoff, not Natasha. Their relationship couldn't be intimate, could it? They were probably just having a discussion. Like normal human beings.

Bucky smiled again, and she was glad for it this time, "We were just talking about all the weapons Romanoff has hidden over the apartment, we were talking in Russian because we didn't want to alarm you."

"Oh." She hadn't been expecting that as she did a quick glance over the apartment expecting to be able to see where they'd put weapons, "does that mean there's a gun in here?"

Bucky nodded, "Yeah there is, quite a few actually, but don't worry about it. Romanoff knows where to hide them where you won't find them."

"Right… so you and Natasha are just friends?"

"The only times me and Romanoff have met before this is when we're trying to kill each other."

"Oh." She frowned, "Why's that?"

"We've usually just ended up being on the opposite sides of things," he said with a hint of bitterness and she had a feeling it was something to do with that dark past of his.

"Sorry, by the way, I didn't mean to wake you," She said, guilt washing over her as she tried to push away from him and go back to bed. She had no intention of sleeping but would feel much better if at least one of them was allowed to sleep, "you don't have to stay up with me." She said as he didn't move.

"You did it for me so many times," Bucky confessed in a mumbled whisper that she thought he hadn't meant for her to hear. Even as she did hear it, she had no idea what he meant by that. He sprung up from bed, his arm still holding onto Charley's as he pulled her up with him, "I've got an idea."

"What?" Bucky ran to his make-shift bed on the couch and began pulling off the cushions on the floor.

"Pillow fort!"

Charley gaped at him. One moment he had a scary metal arm and beating Natasha in a surprise attack, now he was the man suggesting they make a pillow fort together.

"Are you serious?" Bucky only gave a nod in reply as he began to put together the first layer, doing a bad job at it as the pillows fell back onto the floor, "Aren't we a little old for this?"

"That didn't stop you last time," he half frowned at her, "are you going to help me or not?"

Knowing she wasn't going to get any sleep and Bucky wasn't going to let this go, she begrudgingly picked up the pillow that had fallen and slotted it into a position that she knew would hold.

"This is the weirdest thing I've ever done," She said with a blazing grin on her face.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Natasha joined them the following day in the early hours of the morning, having found them both sleeping contentedly in the confinements of their pillow fort she said nothing but kept a firm smirk plastered onto her face whenever she looked at the two of them.

"I don't know what you're smirking at Romanoff," Bucky glared at her as they buckled into the car to visit Charley's family.

"Nothing… nothing at all." She didn't really care that Natasha saw her and Bucky sleeping together in a fort at present as her head stayed firmly on the thought of seeing her family. She kept her mouth shut, scared if she opened it she'd be sick.

They had barely been in the car for a full five minutes when Natasha halted the car.

"We can't be here already?" Charley huffed, diving to wind down the window and poke her head outside to look around and instantly recognizing the green lawn with a small flower path planted outside the main window, "Okay… maybe we can be."

"I'll wait here in the car," Natasha said, turning the engine off, "you and Bucky can go, I'll be here."

"Thanks Romanoff." Bucky said and she nodded in reply," let's get going then…"

Nervously, Charley tugged at the Car door and almost missed her step coming out as she fumbled to find the ground. She thought she hadn't fallen due to saving herself but found Bucky's arms had quickly made their way around her waist to keep her steady.

"Thanks Bucky," She smiled and he let go but didn't withdraw completely as he held out a hand for emotional support.

"It'll be fine," he encouraged.

"Thanks," she said again, finding herself gripping tightly to his hand and was glad to feel it was his metal one (hidden securely under a leather glove) in case she held it too tight and hurt him.

Before they had even stepped onto the green of her homes' front lawn the door was wretched open. A woman came flying out, a spring in her steps as she darted to Charley. All of a sudden Charley was being smothered by a bush of hair.

"Charlotte!" her mum cried, "You're back… where did you go? We were worried sick. You didn't respond to our messages we had people on our doorstep asking so many questions. I was so scared…"

"Mum." Charley said, it felt like she was breathing for the first time as she said those words. She detached herself from Bucky and wrapped her free arm around her mother, pulling her as close as possible, "I'm sorry I scared you."

"Let's get in," Her mum began to pull her inside before she could refuse, "last week we caught them snooping by the house."

"Who?"

Charley was quick to notice her mum not even paying attention to Bucky's presence as he followed alongside them awkwardly.

"The police, the FBI, the secret service, another version of that blasted shield. Or whatever else there is…" she said, clearly irritated, "they've been questioning us non-stop after you disappeared. You have to tell me everything that happened and then we'll head straight over to the-"

"There's something important I have to tell you first," Charley cut in, feeling as if losing her memories was high on the priority list of things to tell her family.

"Mrs Weller," Bucky said after being oddly quite for some time, "What have they been questioning you on?"

They had reached the step leading to the front door when her mum span around, making sure Charley had one foot in the doorway, " _You_ caused all of this!" her voice no longer holding the sweet compassion she used whilst talking to Charley, "She's a war criminal all because of you!"

"Let me expl-" but whatever Bucky was about to explain was cut off by the sharp and instant slap he received from her mum.

"you should have never come into her life, it was worse off because of it," She snapped harshly, slowly trying to back up into the doorway. Charley opened her mouth to defend him. He had been there for her so much over the past few days, she couldn't possibly expect that to be true – but then again… how did she know? She couldn't remember her life before all of this. She shut her mouth, knowing she couldn't argue something she knew nothing of. "I thank you for bringing her back unharmed-" Charley winced at that, feeling losing her memories was rather on the 'harming' side, "- But she had a life here. Don't come back."

With that the door was slammed straight in Bucky's face. Gaping as her mum turned to her, she could still see the silhouette of Bucky outside of the door and she waited to see what he would do. A second past before he turned around and walked in the other direction.

"MUM!" Charley cried, trying to move past her and apologize to Bucky. This wasn't how she was expecting this to go. Whilst she knew this was her family, they felt like strangers and she needed Bucky's support.

However, before she had the chance to reach the door, her mum turned the key still inside the door and locked it.

"He didn't deserve that!"

"Didn't he!" her mum roared back, making Charley shrink back further, "the past few weeks we had no idea where you was… you could have been dead for all I knew, I'd be an idiot if I let him take you back like that. Every time you're with him you get into trouble." Her face was redder than Charley had ever seen it, "Last time it was different, me and your father trusted you to make the right decision, but this time you've ended up as a war criminal."

"What happened last time?" Charley fired back.

"Oh you know exactly what happened."

"No, I really don't…"

"How can you forget a SWAT team storming in on us whilst at dinner," her mum cried, going an octave higher in pitch, "or when you were supposedly attacked by the winter solider in the store, or when you were in that car accident to do with that Hydra group or when you lived with the avengers for a full month. It's too much of a dangerous life Charlotte. I can't let it go on anymore."

Charley's eyes welled with tears for a moment. Now was the time to confess she really had no idea of any of these things.

"That important thing I had to tell you, well…" she took a deep breath, "I lost all my memories."

"What?" Her mum's lips curved up into an almost grin as if expecting it to be a joke, "What do you mean lost all of your memories? How?"

She sat her mum down and explained to her (as much as she could remember) the events that had transpired over the last few weeks. Her eyes kept looking to the window to see if Natasha's car had left yet, but it was still at the end of her drive way.

"So when I say I can't remember I really can't."

Her mum nodded slowly and replied, "He's destroyed your life." She concluded with a finality to her voice.

"No, no," Charley said, "it's not his fault."

"Well it must be somehow, how come memory loss seems to happen around him all the time, then?"

"What?"

"Do you not remember that too, sweetheart?" she asked, softening her voice, "You were the one to explain it all to us before. Well -" her eyes rolled up as if trying to remember the specific details, "in the 1940's he was presumed dead but was actually taken by hydra, had his memory wiped and was brainwashed into being an assassin." She sighed, "Now that I say it now, I can't believe I ever let you stay with him."

Charley shook her head, wanting to laugh, "That can't be right. He'd be in his ninety's now and Bucky is definitely not that old… you must be wrong."

"I'm not. He had lost his memories for seventy years or so, you can find all the details out online…"

Shocked, Charley stuttered to find her words, "Well then why didn't he ever tell me this, he knew what I was going through this whole time and never said!"

"I'm sorry darling."

Betrayed at Bucky for not saying anything, she hardly notice her mum wrapping her arms around her until her vision was lost behind an waterfall of hair, "Everything will be okay. You can stay here." A lump formed at the back of her throat. She couldn't stay here. She was a war criminal. People were after her, or at least according to Bucky they were. Her life of normality was over.

She struggled to stay on the couch, feeling herself self-sliding downwards as her body could no longer hold her upright. "But I can't," She mumbled, "I'm going up against the law."

"We'll figure something out," she shrugged as if it was of no importance, "Just please stay, just for a little bit. Your sister's coming over later and your dad will be home from work soon."

She nodded and fumbled up to look out of the window again. With a disappointed glance, she saw that the car was now gone.

"Why are you at home?" Charley asked, remembering her mum was usually at work at this hour.

"They've given me two weeks absence," she said, not meeting her in the eye, "I was so worried about you that I made myself ill. No matter now, you're back home."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," She said, "I'm just glad you're back."

Her mums mood uplifted by the end of the day, after spending the day by her daughters side; watching TV, baking rocky road together and diving into old photo albums to help Charley get some of her childhood memories back. Charley was feeling better too, after being reunited with her cat who had leapt into her arms and stayed there through the majority of the day. But her thoughts kept turning back to Bucky's crestfallen face when the door had been slammed on it.

"But really, he brought you back with absolutely no memories," her mum chided, "He should have taken better care of you. Me slamming the door in his face wasn't the worst I could do."

Her dad nodded, whole-heartedly agreeing with his wife. Charley decided not to disagree on this one, not wanting to start a family argument.

When her sister had returned that evening to join them for dinner with her newly wed husband by her arm, it took them a full half an hour to calm her down after she'd broken down in sobs at the appearance of Charley in the doorway.

"We all thought you were dead or something," her sister said, having calmed down now and helping herself to an extra portion of roasted potatoes at the dinner table. Their mum having cooked up a feast of food to celebrate Charley's return.

" _Ellen_." Her mum scolded her sister, "Don't say things like that."

"But we did," Ellen shrugged, "The Avengers was all over the news, about how they still hadn't caught Captain America – Which by the way, I don't believe he went as crazy as the tabloids are saying – and that half the team were now in hiding. No one mentioned anything about you."

"I don't think I'm an actual member of the team, Ellen."

"Yeah but 'e figure' you migh' be, consi'erin' you wen' to tha' funeral – Peggy, wasn' it? – and you never came back," Ellen had stuffed her face full of so many potatoes that it was hard to understand what she was saying. She swallowed before finishing, "Mum and Dad were getting questioned by all the authorities. They were making it out as if you were just as important as the rest of the Avengers in hiding."

They settled down that evening in front of the TV, a game of cluedo on the table in front of them. At the moment Ellen was seconds away from winning when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," her mum got up and made her way out of the room.

"Fuck yes, I was right!" Ellen grinned, throwing her cards down as she won the game.

" _Language_ ," Her dad scolded.

From the doorway they heard their mum say with a harsh cut to her voice, "Just leave please." Everyone in the living area stopped what they were doing to look expectedly at the front door.

From where Charley was sitting she could only see the back of her mother, with her hand firmly on the doo handle.

"It's not safe her staying here."

"It's safer than it is with you," she snapped, "She lost her memories with you."

"I know that, but-"

The door was slammed shut again and her mum appeared in the doorway again, her hair a little windswept and red in the face, "I swear if he turns up again I'll call the police on him."

"You can't, then you'll have to explain why I'm here," Charley warned her, getting up from where she sat perched on the floor, towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Just let me talk to him." For a moment she thought her mum wasn't going to move and that she was going to have to fight her way out, but a second later, she took a step to the side, "Thank-you."

Before it was too late she darted after Bucky and found him outside about to get in the car again.

"Wait!" She called and he stopped, closing the door immediately and turning around to talk to her.

"Charley, I get completely why you want to stay here," He started, "but it's not safe, me and Romanoff think Hydra's still around here and we're war criminals, the police will be watching your house."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What do you mean?" Bucky frowned.

"The fact that you'd lost your memories too," She said and was glad to see him visibly flinch, "You knew exactly what I was going through and didn't say anything."

"It was a long story."

"We have had plenty of time for you to tell me!" she yelled, angry that he still wasn't telling her anything. She decided to straight up ask him what she wanted to know, "Did you lose them the same way I did… on the chair?"

"It's not important."

"I think it is!" She cried, "I've been feeling so shitty and alone and you've been through it too, it would have helped me so much to know I wasn't alone in feeling this way, to know that it can get better and you decided to stay quite about it!"

Bucky didn't say anything still and she thought he was somewhere between bursting out crying (very uncharacteristically) and darting towards the car and driving away.

"Well then?" She pressed further, wrapping an arm around herself as she realised just how cold it was. She wasn't wearing shoes either and the pebbled pavement was starting to string at her feet.

"It was part of my past," Bucky said slowly, "Someone I wasn't proud of, I didn't want you to know it and think differently of me."

"Did I know it before?" She said in a calmer voice, trying to take control of her breathing as her heartbeat had doubled in pace. When Bucky nodded she grumbled, "Then why on earth would I think differently _now_ , I'm the same person?"

Bucky still didn't respond and she resigned to giving up.

"Look, I want to stay with my family," she said quietly, "I think it's for the best-" Bucky opened his mouth to speak and she put a sharp hand up to stop him, " _I know_ , _I know_ it isn't safe but I remembering so much of my childhood here and it's really helping me."

"If Hydra attacks, I can't protect you," Bucky challenged, "it was risky enough coming out here, let alone splitting up. We were only meant to stay for a few days and then go back to Wakanda where we can stay in hiding."

She'd never liked it in Wakanda. There she had nurses around her all the time, no friends or family and with the knowledge that she had no future. She shook her head, "No, I don't want too."

"You can't stay here!" Bucky urged, "Romanoff thinks that if there was bugs at your apartment, they'll have your parents' house monitored too. It's just not safe, you can't stay in hiding your whole life."

"You can go back," She shrugged, "But I'm finally with my family-"

"-But-"

"-Thanks for getting me here and for being there for me," She finished, offering out her hand for him to take. She thought a hug goodbye wasn't right for their relationship. Not yet, or at least it was until she found out he was hiding stuff from her, "I'm sorry." She apologized when he didn't take it and she dropped her hand, "I guess I just don't want that life anymore, the one with the Avengers, spies and super-soldiers."

Silence spaced between them.

"You're wrong," Bucky finally said, still looking blankly down at the spot where she had held out her hand for a handshake to him, "You said you were still the same person, but you're not… you're not Charley. Not the one I knew."

There was so much pain in his voice that she couldn't even begin to describe. He suddenly turned around on the spot and without looking back, got in the car and sped off.

A heavy weight began to rest itself on her chest, as she turned around and walked back up to the house, her mother waiting at the door with open arms. She couldn't help but shake off the feeling that this wasn't the first time Bucky had left her behind.

 **A/N: I had two options on how this story could go… very different ways which would have affected the whole story but I decided to go with this route, I just hope it wasn't a mistake :/ I've worked it out, there's another five chapters to go after this one and then a final epilogue until I've finished the story. I can't believe I'm nearing the end.**

 **Guest: Your review really brightened up my day, thanks so much but I doubt I'm one of the talented writers on it but thanks a million for thinking so. Your review really got me motivated to write this chapter, I hope this is just as good!**

 **.2017: Thanks!**

 **glagla60800: thank god I wasn't the only one. Lol. It's my fault, I spend way too long writing in between each chapter that I forget what I've already written. Thanks so much for your review!**

 **RedHead2000: Thank you so much! I'm glad you love the story – I love you!**

 **Hkhorch: hello there again! You're review was so exciting to read, thank you so much! I do love a good binge read of chapters so take your time :D I decided to take your idea and have the nightmares, I thought it was a brilliant idea to bring them closer together. Hope you enjoy! Thanks so much for your review! Love ya x**

 **StatusUpdate: ooh I love your new username** **I'm trying to fit the story as well as I can into the canon MCU as possible, Natasha being on the run made sense, especially since the new poster for the Avengers Infinity war came out and she was blonde. Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!**


	42. The first Date: Chips

**Chapter 42:**

"She slapped you!" Natasha raised an eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk made its way onto her face but the quick and sharp glare from Bucky hindered it, "she's got guts, slapping a super-soldier and all."

"She was right," Bucky nodded feebly, "I should have protected her."

"From what it sounds like - bearing in mind I wasn't there – there's not much you could have done," Natasha said, dancing around the kitchen, preparing a meal for them both. She seemed to be a natural and Bucky couldn't help but me reminded of how it was Charley who had taught him how to cook, "She _chose_ to help Sharon and go after Zemo. You couldn't – and I don't think she'd have listened, anyway – have stopped her being there."

Bucky half shrugged, pulling at a thread that had come loose from her couch, "I just wish I could make her see I was there for her. The reason I didn't tell her about my past-"

"Because you didn't want her to look at you differently," He could practically feel Natasha's bored eye roll, as she snapped irritably. He may have been saying that a lot lately, "What are you gonna do about it?"

"There's not much I can do, she's made her choice!"

Natasha cut him off with a sharp shake of the head and a 'pfft', "Her family's clearly getting into her head. Look, I went through a similar thing and as much as I love Clint's family-"

"Clint?" Bucky frowned in confusion. Who was Clint?

"Hawkeye." She waved the subject but when Bucky's confusion still remained she rolled her eyes once again, "for god sake Barnes, he was on your team. The one with the arrows…"

" _Oh,_ that was his name," Bucky said remembering he'd been impressed by the archer's skill got someone who was said not to be enhanced in anyway. He was still having trouble believing that, "There wasn't much time for introductions and it was pretty hectic at the airport. If Steve trusted him then I trusted him."

"Yeah well, years ago after Clint brought me to S.H.I.E.L.D, he introduced me to his family," she began slowly, eyeing Bucky out of the corner of her eye but keeping the majority of her focus on the pasta, stirring with a wooden spoon absently, "his wife was less the receptive towards me at the start, and rightly so, Clint had landed himself three times in hospital due to me. Eventually, though, they came around. It's just a matter of changing their perspective."

"I don't care if her family hate me," Bucky said solidly, trying to point out that their two situations were different, although his ego still bruised from where she'd slapped him. If it wasn't for the super-soldier serum running through his veins he was sure he'd have a red mark in the shape of a palm stamped across his face, "I care that she does. How do I change her perspective?"

"Go back to her house, tell her the truth about your past and memory loss. It's Charley, she'll listen to you and respond better to knowing she can relate. People who relate to someone else, draws them to the other-"

"This sounds very manipulate Romanoff."

"It is." She shrugged nonchalantly, "What's wrong with that?"

Bucky glare hardened, deciding then that he wouldn't pre-plan what he said or did, but he'd say what he felt was right in the moment. One thing he was going to do, however, was go see her again, she deserved to not feel so alone, but he wasn't going to do it to make her feel closer with him.

Knowing he'd end up talking himself out of it, he stood up there and then, bid Romanoff goodbye without staying for dinner and took the car.

He'd never been so nervous for someone to answer their door as he felt standing on Charley's front door step for the second time that week. He shifted from foot to foot nervously as he rapped again on the door, making sure to use his non-metal arm. He just didn't want Charley's mother to open the door, the once sweet woman had turned nasty against him (not that he blamed her) and he really didn't want to be at the receiving end of another well-deserved slap.

He was surprised when a boy, no older than fifteen, opened the door. He had barely looked up from his Gameboy. After a moment of looking over the boy, Bucky's mind flashed back to framed pictures in Charley's old apartment where he'd seen the boy before and recognized him as her younger brother.

"uh- Can I help?" he asked flatly, finally dropping the Gameboy to his side and becoming suspicious of the man on his doorstep gawking at him.

"Is your sister here?"

" _Ohhh_ -" Recognition flashed in his eyes and Bucky began to prepare himself to run away if he called his mother out, "Are you her 'psycho' boyfriend?" he said, using air quotes.

"I guess…" Bucky trailed off, not sure how to analyse the teenagers tone; whether it was good or bad, "please don't call your mom out here, I'm not here to cause trouble I just want to talk to Charley-"

"Yeah that's fine," he shrugged and with one hand gesture invited Bucky into the house and shutting the door behind him, "mum's at work anyway – CHARLEY!" he roared over his shoulder with a surprising fierceness, "YOU'RE BOYFRIENDS HERE!"

He hadn't been expecting this; he'd been expecting an argument on the doorstep between Bucky and Charley's mother. Maybe a few slaps… not to be welcomed in by a teenage boy. Unsure of what to do as he fiddled with his gloved hand, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he shrugged again. Bucky was getting the sense he did that a lot. "You were on Cap's side, so you can't be that bad."

 _He could settle for that reasoning_ , he thought as sudden clomps upstairs hindered him from answering the boy. Nerves seized every bone in his body. In a paralysed state his thoughts were his only guidance… would she be mad at him for what he said yesterday? He hadn't meant it; it had been a moment of anger as he thought she'd never get her memories back. The anger mostly at himself but he channelled them onto her at the wrong moment.

He'd explain this to her, he thought trying to calm the thundering voice in his head, beating against his brain.

She appeared around the corner of the stairs. Her now short hair was half in a pony-tail, the other half spilling out into knots, a large hoodie hung loosely on her body and last night's mascara was still evident under her eyes. Still, to Bucky, she'd never looked more beautiful.

"Hey," his voice cracked as he spoke as if he hadn't spoken for many, many years.

"Hi Bucky," she shot him a genuine smile. That was a start.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to talk," he said, "I didn't want to leave it how it ended last night."

"Niether," Charley said, sincerity swimming in her voice, surprising Bucky, "I was planning on coming to see you today actually… to talk."

"You were?"

"Yeah."

A stilled silence numbed between them as Charley kept shooting her brother irritated glances and a not-so-subtle head jab to the living room. He could have laughed if he hadn't felt so empty about the situation. Her brother, however, decidedly ignored her head jabs and continued to watch, as if observing a game of tennis, his head bouncing from Charley to Bucky. A sly smirk stretched across his face that reminded him so much of Romanoff.

When she realized her brother had no intention of leaving she turned to Bucky, "let me just grab my coat and we can go out and talk."

After many minutes of awkward shuffling by the door way as Charley bustled about trying to get ready to go out ( _apparently_ getting her coat included going to the toilet, changing her top and plaiting her hair). Her brother had kept pushing for him to show him his metal arm and after sending him numerous glares – which did nothing to hinder his attempts – Bucky was slowly growing more irritated.

"I've got a Captain America replica shield upstairs," he crowed, proudly pouting his chest out, "it took all my birthday savings to get it. Do you want to go see it?"

"Sorry, I don't really want to…" Bucky managed to drown him out, only after he began looking at the family photos in the front room. He'd never actually been inside her childhood home, only seen it as an address. Pictures littered the room of young Charley's with her younger siblings. She used to have pig tails and her hair was much shorter. One picture in particular had her holding a cat up to the camera whilst wearing bright pink Barbie pyjamas.

"You're not actually dangerous are you?" Her brother's voice crawled its way back into earshot, "mum keeps saying how you'll be the death of Charley."

The clear answer –the answer he wanted to give - _should_ have been no, of course he wasn't dangerous… but his many years of hydra, his kill count and metal arm said a different story. The teenage boy thought of him as just a friend of Captain America, he clearly hadn't done his research online of his years of service to Hydra.

"I _am_ dangerous," he decided to answer, keeping his eyes heavily trained on the framed picture, "but not to Charley, and I'll try my hardest to keep you guys safe and away from danger too."

"I'm ready," Charley appeared from the stairwell, looking – well, - not much different. Her hair was a lot neater but she had still settled for the same oversized hoodie.

As soon as the door closed she began blustering out an apology on behalf of her brother.

"I'm really sorry about him," She said quickly that Bucky had to strain to hear what she was saying, "he was just excited to meet you, he was really annoyed he wasn't there the other day when mum well… slapped you," She said with a blush creeping onto her cheeks, "-sorry about that. But, my brother just gets excited, he's a massive Captain America fan, his room is littered with posters… you're in one actually, I saw it, it was that Howling commando squad during the war."

"It's alright," he brushed past it but noticed her eyes casting downward sadly, "What's wrong?"

"You never said about the war. How old are you exactly?" there was a hint of humour in her tone but he knew it was just trying to cover up her hurt.

"I didn't know how to bring it up."

"That's fair," She nodded, "I mean I hardly know you so why would you tell me?"

"Yeah…" it was like she'd stabbed him in the heart and had begun twisting, "right…"

They walked along an empty street, side by side but Bucky noticed the relatively large space between them, as if they were both afraid if their shoulders brushed together – or just barely touched – they'd catch a deadly dieses.

It was a colourful day and Bucky took a moment to watch an orange leaf fell from the top most branch of an oak tree. Autumn was definitely just beginning. It meant winter was just around the corner. He preferred winter, it meant more hours of darkness. It had been easiest when working for Hydra as stealth missions were so much easier.

Right now the sun couldn't be clearer and he had to use his gloved hand to shield his eyes from it. He'd just have to be more cautious of security cameras and people noticing him. They were lucky it was a small neighbourhood and barely anyone was on the street.

"How did you find out?" Bucky decided to ask, distracting himself momentarily from lingering on the thought of Hydra and the government being after the two of them.

"Mum told me, _and_ the internet," she said, blushing again, "you were in the war, with Captain America."

"That was a long time ago."

"No- no, I know," She blubbered out quickly, "I just – I guess I just wanted to say I don't blame you for it, for not telling me about your past. I understand why, I know I was angry last night but after thinking it makes complete sense that you didn't tell me about Hydra or losing your own memories and stuff. I was just being selfish."

"You weren't selfish." She was being unfair on herself, _he_ was the reason this had all happened. _He_ was at fault. She had felt so lonely in the situation when she didn't have to be, "I didn't mean what I said last night about you not being Charley. You are. I guess I-"

"-was just angry," She concluded with a definite nod to her head. The ghost of a smile haunted over her shadowed face. She stopped walking and she disappeared by Bucky's side, "I really wish I could remember you."

The stab in his heart tightened.

"So do I."

"Hopefully, one day, I will."

"One day," he shrugged, continuing walking, not really caring if she followed alongside of him as his mood dwindled. He didn't want to dwell on whether her memories would return _one day_ , his hopes of that had already been dashed.

"I've got so many of my childhood memories back here," she did a half skip to catch up to him. He could tell she was talking in a conversational manner to try and gauge a reaction from him as her eyes followed his a little too carefully, "it's been really nice and my family have been so supportive. I think we've managed to get through all the photo albums."

He wish she'd just kill him now. It'd been quicker and a lot less painful, as the stab continued to deepen.

"I'm really happy for you Charley," he murmured, forcing himself to say the words, "I really am."

"Thanks Bucky."

They continued to walk randomly along the street; he mostly followed Charley, not knowing the area. She seemed to be taking him somewhere as they crossed the road a few times.

"Are we going somewhere?" He said, speaking his thoughts.

"Um – yeah, I thought we could have lunch and talk through things."

"Talk?" he wasn't sure what else to say. He'd almost expected her to want to turn back and walk home now that they'd both apologized.

"Well yeah – we need to discuss the living situation, how it's going to work with me being at home and the government after us and stuff-"

"-Oh right…" He frowned. He wasn't sure how he was still breathing, for he was sure his heart would have broken in two by now.

"and- and I guess I wanted you to tell me about when you lost your memories," his interest was caught again as he span around to face her. He thought he wanted nothing more to do with him and that this was just her way of saying a kind goodbye to him but clearly she wanted to know more. A smile made its way onto his face.

"Yeah sure, what do you want to know?" he was confident she now knew of her past anyway, there was no more fear in telling her.

"Just what happened to you? Was it similar to me? How much did you forget? Did you ever get it all back? Do you still forget things?" She listed it all off and he could tell she'd been thinking of questions all night, "you never struck me as a person who'd lost all their memories. It's a good thing, it means it can get better… right? I mean, it sort of has already, I have most my childhood memories back but there are things such as you, the avengers and hydra I'd like to remember."

She was rambling, something she only did when she was nervous.

"I can answer it all," he said in a quick attempt to calm her down, "I shouldn't have kept it all from you anyway."

"Are you sure?" She asked, "Because if you don't want to I don't want to pressure you into telling me something about your past."

"No, I want too," he half grinned, "If it helps in some way then that'll be good enough for me."

He didn't answer any of her questions until they were sat down at the local café Charley had been guiding them too. He was impressed as she seemed to have gotten them there via muscle memory.

"I used to come here a lot as a kid," She replied as he guided her to a seat in the corner, knowing talking about Hydra and memory loss in a public space like this was risky. Luckily the café wasn't too busy, "apparently remembering where a place that serves food was on my top priority list of things to remember," She chuckled as a plate of chips was placed on the table in front of them and she dived into them.

"So what did you want to know again?"

"Oh yeah," Charley gulped down her mouthful, the chips had clearly made her forget about the question she'd wanted to ask, "You're from the 1940's – I sort of get that – so when did you lose your memories?"

He'd expected this, but it was still hard to relieve old memories he'd spent years trying to supress (or forget as Hydra had forced him too). Despite Hydra putting him through hell and back, he would have thought the war would have seemed like a small matter to him now. A child's game. But it still haunted him. The people who died. The promise of a safe return. The realization home was far away. The killing. The dying. It was all too real.

"on a mission with Steve, I fell of a moving train, off a cliff," he repeated the story numbly. The chips were beginning to taste stale now that he had started the story, "Steve thought I was dead. I don't blame him; I can't believe I survived myself. I lost my arm but – Hydra found me."

"Hydra existed back then too?"

"It's when it started." He answered, hoping she would keep the questioning until the end. Now that he had started it was easier to just to continue, "They gave me a metal arm and wiped my memories – on the chair, the same was as you lost yours – gave me a new name; The Winter solider. I was kept in a cryo freeze for years until they took me out again and began training me. That's how I still look young even though I'm in my ninety's-"

"You're in your ninety's?"

"Something like that," he winced, trying to keep track of where he was at, "I'd been injected with something that had made me stronger, a match for Captain America. I think all along, they were planning on using me to take him down."

He'd never really gone into this much depth when he'd told the story before to Charley, or to Steve (who he'd recently had the discussion with). An odd sensation came over him, as if he was relieved to finally tell it all. To tell the horrors of what he'd been through, even if it was to Charley… the ghost of the woman she had once been.

"People called me a ghost story because I would appear and disappear. This was over the course of fifty years or so. I was Hydra's secret weapon. I know it's no excuse but I couldn't remember anything from my previous life, all I knew was the mission and what Hydra had told me to do. Nothing else mattered. If I failed a mission, I was punished for it… tortured and stuff. Most of the time I was in the cryo freeze, I didn't see light much, as Hydra's base was underground and when I went out on missions it was usually at night. They made me do terrible things. I killed so many innocent people-"

"- Whenever I got close to remembering something they'd wipe my mind again. It was the most painful thing. You probably know, you probably remember it. They did this when they send me to kill Steve," Charley gasped and he momentarily stopped to analyse her reaction, she was listening careful and had abandoned her chips, her hand at some point had made its way to lay on his own. Stunned by the sudden connection, he stuttered over his next words, "um- I- Steve, He- h-he said something that reminded me of him but Hydra had wiped me again and all I knew was he was my mission. I almost killed him, but I couldn't forget what he'd said to me _; I'm with you until the end of the line_. I'd gone decades without anyone, without any friends or company. Knowing that someone was there for me terrified me. I knew I had to save him, so I did, and that's when I met you-"

"-You were working in a clothes store at the time, it was just you and I'd gotten my clothes wet so I wanted to get some new ones. Hydra had fallen and I had no more missions, I didn't know where to go but you helped me, you offered me help, offered me a place to stay and helped me remember. You took me to a museum dedicated to Steve's life in the army, and to Peggy Carter – Do you remember her?" the blank stare she sent him told him she has no idea who Peggy Carter was, "she was great, she took a liking to you. Anyway, you brought me up to speed with the 21st century and, oh god – do you remember that time we watched titanic? You suddenly jumped on the couch and pretended you were flying, I thought you were going barmy. The pillow forts? I still don't understand them, you did it to calm me when there was a thunder storm… I used to wake up from nightmares. And the gym! I'd become worried for your safety and you said you'd learn how to fight so I started teaching you, truth is I was terrified about hurting you so I took it easy on you. It's probably good Natasha trained you up… though most of our sparring sessions was just a chance to get closer to you-"

"- Everyday I'd worry Hydra would get to you. And yes, there _are_ still things I can't remember, but you always reminded me that sometimes it doesn't matter if I've forgotten things from my past because I'll always have my memories with you. That's what I was afraid of most, Hydra getting to me again and taking that away from me. They were taken from you instead…"

His hands were shaking when he had finished, even his metal one that felt like it was about to malfunction but he knew he was the one causing it. He went to move them under the table, not wanting to show Charley what a nervous wreck he was, but he found them both stuck as Charley had taken hold of them and clutched them as if her life depended on it.

He'd never meant to divulge that much but memories had swept him up in the moment. In an ideal world, she would remember them all for herself. The realization that, that world didn't exists was starting to hit him – at full force. Even if she didn't remember them for herself at least she'd know that they happened.

"Why can't I remember you?" Charley finally chocked back and Bucky looked up. Water sat at the depth of her eyes, preparing to spill, "I want you to know, Bucky, there's nothing I want more than remembering you. I've tried so hard…"

"I know, I know," Bucky sighed wistfully knowing there was nothing he or she could do to bring back something that had been forever lost, "I just needed you to know."

"Thank-you for telling me this," She half-smiled, "I don't blame you for anything you did if that's what you think."

"I know you don't," Bucky smirked, "You are Charley. For some reason you've never judged me for any of past… even though you probably should."

"You had no control over it," She shrugged and it was reminiscent of a time she'd said that to him once before, "how are you to blame?"

"Still doesn't make everything I did right."

"Maybe not but I think in your case there is no right or wrong," she finally released her hand from his, "there was no choice to do either."

He picked up a chip and played with it idly. They used to have these sorts of chats back in Washington, and if he really concentrated he could pretend they were back there again with no memory loss plaguing them.

"Do I have any superpowers?"

He choked on his chip, "What?"

"Well…" She began and with a sigh of relief Bucky realized the dark undertone of the conversation had finally come to an end, "I'm friends with the Avengers, I just thought maybe I'd have some myself."

Bucky laughed, forcing himself to swallow the chip that had got lodged in his throat, "unfortunately no. Everyone thinks of you as a civilian."

"Oh great," She huffed childishly, "I thought I'd have a hidden power. Now that would be cool."

"Is not knowing a group of superheroes not good enough for you?"

"Obviously not," She rolled her eyes as if it was obvious, "I'd love powers with fire. Imagine that."

"But you hate the heat?" He couldn't contain his laugh as she began to mime holding fire in her hands and throwing it.

"Well I wouldn't if I could control it."

"If you say so," he said, "You used to be pretty good at regular fighting if that helps. I partially taught you, as did Natasha-"

"Where you apparently went easy on me?"

"Natasha managed to do a good job with you from what I heard," _and saw,_ he recalled her beating him during their fight at the government facility. Even though he had also almost killed her. She managed to get out alive. He still had to thank Natasha for training her up for that, "She could teach you again if you wanted, she's in the area."

"What if I wanted you to teach me?"

He eyed her suspiciously, wondering what she was thinking. He knew _this_ version of Charley was untrustworthy of the now blonde haired spy. She had every reason to be wary, but they were once good friends and it was disappointing to see that friendship fade.

"Natasha would be better; I'd only end up going easy on you again."

Charley seemed to consider this for a moment but waved it away, "I want you to teach me."

She wasn't going to back down so he shrugged. There was no harm in it anyway, it would just be another excuse to see her, and to stop himself from crawling back to Wakanda whenever it got too hard being around her.

"Sure… any reason you don't want Natasha though?"

"She scares me," she answered honestly, carefully concentrating on dipping her chips in sauce, "and, well – Maybe I just want a reason to get closer to you."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

It was nightfall by the time they walked back to her house. Neither of them had thought to bring a torch and neither of them had phones, so they had to make do with the lights in people's homes to guide them home.

"You didn't have to walk me back," Charley clutched her coat tighter to her. The cold air wasn't affecting Bucky as much but the hoodie she was sporting apparently wasn't providing her with enough protection. He would have offered her his coat if he had it on him.

"Of course I did," he smiled, "Hydra's still out there somewhere. Plus, I didn't know my way back from the café. I needed your help." It was a lie of course, he'd memorized the walk but the slight humour in his tone he hoped would distract her from the looming threat that was Hydra.

"hmmm," she buzzed, "What's going to happen with that anyway? Hydra?" She'd mentioned it before, she'd been wanting to ask this since the start of the day, "I know me living here isn't helpful with that but I really need to stay with my family for the time being."

"I understand that," Bucky bowed his head respectfully, waiting to see where this was leading.

"-and I know you wanted to go back to Wakanda, which you can if you want."

"If you're not going then I'll stay here," he'd already made that decision hours ago… years probably… he'd left her before and it had caused all of this to happen, he wouldn't leave her again.

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," he nodded confidently to assure her as he saw her biting her lip and knew it was a sign that she was anxious, "I'll be able to keep watch if Hydra tries to do anything – that is, _if_ they're here."

"Do you think they are?"

"Yes," Bucky answered truthfully. The bugs in her apartment had been the first sign. More would come. For all he knew they could be watching them right now.

"Alright, well that's slightly scary," She gave a dramatic and wistful sigh.

"I promise nothing will happen to you or your family, I'll make sure of that."

"I'm sorry, I know I'm making it ten times harder by saying I want to stay here-"

"I understand."

"Thanks," she smiled again, "I would invite you in but I think mums back from work now and…"

"I get it, it's fine," he said looking sadly at the house. He couldn't help but wish for the kind woman he'd met before Charley had lost all her memories, her mother had once accepted him but it was all his fault that had changed, "another run in with your mom is something I'd like to avoid."

A light giggle came from Charley and he knew she was thinking about the time her mom had slapped him. He turned a glare towards her which was only met by more giggles.

"I really enjoyed today," Charley thought through giggles, "It's been really fun."

"It has."

"We should do it again," that idea sounded like music to Bucky's ears, "Soon."

"Well we've got our sparring sessions now."

"Yes we do," she nodded thoughtfully, "When does that start exactly?"

"Tomorrow if you wanted," neither of them had any plans. Bucky's original plan was to be back in Wakanda by tomorrow and it was risky just for Charley to leave her house unattended, "unless you have plans."

"let me just look at my busy schedule meeting up with all my other boyfriends," Charley laughed but sobered immediately seeing the shocked look on Bucky's face as she had essentially called him a boyfriend. She looked around quickly and saw her mum's head peering around the upstairs curtain of her house. Aware of this, Bucky took a step back from Charley to make a wider gap between them. He meant it when he said he didn't want another slap.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Charley smiled, this time a little less, "tomorrow."

He couldn't restrain the easy smile that crept onto his face as he drove back to Charley's apartment. It had been a long day. A long but good day. Maybe everything would be alright.

His smile, however, was wiped dry off of his face as soon as he entered the door and saw Natasha smirking knowingly at him.

"Go well?" She coyly asked.

Bucky stomped past her, "shut it."

"You were gone all day; I can only assume it went well."

"We're gonna be spending more time together, properly. Maybe she'll remember some things. I'm going to be teaching her the basics of combat again" Bucky told her. There was no point hiding it from her, Natasha was the type of person who would find anyway by spying on them and he had, had enough of being spied on for a lifetime.

"Oh," it was so quick he could have imagined it but he thought he detected the slightest hint of hurt on Romanoff's face. As soon as it had come she plastered over her signature smirk and added humorously, "Charlotte doesn't trust me anymore then? The last time you trained her you went easy on her… too easy."

"I think she just wants someone she knows; it doesn't mean she doesn't like you or anything."

"Sure…" Natasha retorted doubtfully. She stood up abruptly and turned around, her blonde hair had grown out and swished behind her as she span, "I'll see you in the morning."

 **A/N: ONLY FOUR MORE CHAPTERS LEFT, and an epilogue (so technically 5)! Thank you so everyone for sticking with this story!**

 **I realise I'm making it look like Natasha is just spending all day in the apartment. She isn't, I imagine she's looking for Hydra agents in the area or signs that they're watching them during the day, I just haven't addressed it yet.**

 **Mcduffie145: heyyy you're last review was literally one of my favs I've ever gotten on this story so thank you so much! I'm writing as quickly as I can I promise. Thanks for sticking with the story!**

 **Emily88034: thank you so much! I'm glad that their motivations behind their actions was understood. I didn't want to make it feel like I was making conflict for nothing. Thank you so much for the compliment, it means the world to me!**

 **.2017: Thank you as always x**

 **Artemis7448: sorry for the last painful chapter, I promise it only goes up from here :D lol. Thanks so much!**


	43. Poptarts

**Chapter 43:**

Pacing. She'd paced so much in the past half an hour than she had her whole life. The floorboards in front of her wardrobe were beginning to ware as she stared down the few dresses she had shut away at the back of it, trying to asses which would be perfect for the date.

 _Not that it was a date_ – she reminded herself, although she wished she wouldn't. It was nice to believe for just a second that it had been intended as a date and that things were back how they used to be, before her memory loss – or at least how she thought they would have used to be, she really couldn't remember if they ever went on dates before.

She made certain that the time they had arranged was when her mother would be out with friends, and her dad at work. Although she could do nothing to stop her annoyingly intrusive brother from being at home.

"Can't you just stay in your room, or something," Charley pleaded with her brother after she'd finished making him pinky promise not to tell their parents. A few sweets later he was convinced, but nothing was stopping him from wanting to ask the winter soldier some fanboy questions.

"I don't know," he shrugged coolly, twirling a sweet wrapped in his fingers so it made the perfect ball. Closing one eye he aimed for the bin that was the other side of the room, after a moment of Charley glaring, he threw it, missing the bin by a mile. "I'll need to know if he's worthy of my sis."

"That's bullshit," she rolled her eyes. She praised herself on usually keeping pretty calm when things irritated her, but her annoying twat of a brother really knew how to claw at her skin, "you just want to ask him whether or not the metal arm can deflect bullets – _and are you going to pick that up_?" She jabbed a finger at the sweet wrapper he'd left on the floor.

"it's a very important question that I need answers to!" He threw his arms up in air in an exaggerated huff, "I also need to show him my shield, I never got to show him it last time – _and no_ , I'm planning on throwing another one so if you don't mind getting out my way."

Despite her irritation, she took one step to the right, knowing if she didn't she'd be on the receiving end of fifty sweet wrappers thrown in her face. She should have known giving him those sweets were a bad idea.

"He doesn't give a shit about your bloody shield!" She cried, "Why can't you just stay in your room, that's all I'm asking!"

"Well, what's the price," he grinned mischievously. Charley did not like that look one bit, "what do I get out of it?"

"You mean to say you're asking me what do you get out of not annoying one of the most deadliest assassins the world has ever seen?" Charley said, "I don't know… maybe not death."

That shut him up, and hopefully kept him to his room whilst she left the house with Bucky. If going out with him was going to be a common occurrence, she was going to start having to arrange meeting up with him somewhere else. Her mother was blinded by her anger for him, and pretended as if the last few years hadn't happened. Not once did she bring up Bucky or the Avengers, and promptly turned the TV off whenever the Avengers were mentioned. It was like she wanted Charley to completely forget that part of her life, whist Charley was so desperate to remember.

Quickly Charley shut her eyes and chose the first dress her eyes could reach, she was wasting precious time. She still had to do her make-up, although she eyed her make-up box with distaste. She'd never been one to dress herself up, and she figured hers and Bucky's relationship was good enough not to have to dress up to impress him.

She opened her eyes and sighed in annoyance when she realised she'd grabbed the shortest one. Nevertheless she pulled it over her head. It was a light green skater dress and she had to admit it went with her natural figure, if only it covered her arse a little bit more. She'd just have to make sure she wouldn't bend over, then she'd be alright.

She snuck a peek outside. The wind was catching the trees, making them sway dangerously side to side. She pulled her window open further and stuck out a hand, the pressure of the wind forced her to bring it back inside.

"that's a no to dresses then," She groaned and as quickly a she changed into it, she pulled it off. It was a bad call to wear a dress. No matter how good the dress looked on her, she'd be spending half the night with her hands down at her sides to prevent it flying up.

Deciding it was no good dressing up and just went for a usual jeans and jumper combination and ten minutes later she was satisfied with what she was wearing when the door rang.

"Shit, shit, shit," Charley grumbled loudly, before realizing her bedroom window was wide open and if Bucky was on the doorstep he'd have definitely heard her, "I'll be down in just a sec!"

"I can open it for you if you're not ready," her brother sung from his bedroom, although from her own room she could see his door was still safely shut. At least there was that.

"Don't you dare!" she shouted, "I just need to get my shoes."

"Well hurry up, don't keep him waiting all night – AND USE PROTECTION!"

She sung under her breath to drown out her brothers voice as she made her way down the stairs and to the front door.

"Hey," she said, as she finally opened the door. She was glad he was only wearing jeans and a t-shirt, she knew she'd have felt completely overdressed if she'd opted for a dress, "You ready to go?"

"hi, you look pretty"

"Uh thanks," she looked down at herself, whilst she didn't look like the usual tramp she wouldn't have gone so far as to call herself pretty, but she accepted the compliment nevertheless.

Something brown and fluffy moved past Charley's leg and towards Bucky who immediately crouched down and captured her escaping cat in his arms.

"Hey there Mabel, haven't seen you in a long time." He cooed, holding her out in his outstretched hands as a look of fondness passed over him.

"How long's it been since you last saw her?" she didn't really care, but she realised the last time he saw her cat was probably the last time they had lived together and _that_ she really did want to know. She was also impressed by how Mabel seemed unbothered by Bucky, most people she would run away and hide from.

"About a year," he said, putting her down safely inside the door of her house, "your mom's not here is she?"

Trying not to laugh at the greatest assassin that ever lived fear of her own mother, she quickly shook her head to relieve his unneeded fear.

"just my brother… don't worry, he's away in his room, although he's probably eavesdropping."

"I AM NOT!" a voice came from beyond, making Charley laugh.

"Right, let's go."

Surprising her, he held out his metal arm out for her to take. It was safely hidden behind a leather glove, but it was the gesture of hand holding that threw her off. It was becoming harder and harder to pretend it wasn't a date, as she accepted his hand along the driveway and towards a car that she recognized as Natasha's.

"Okay, so how much longer am I going to be kept in the dark?" She bounced on her feet as he unnecessarily opened the passenger door for her, "where are we going?"

"You were never one for surprises were you," he grinned, as the engine roared to life, "there's a drive-in-theatre nearby tonight, I thought we could go watch that."

"Oh my god, that's awesome," Charley squealed, "I've always wanted to go to one of them, what's playing?"

Something bright flickered in Bucky's eyes, "Wizard of Oz."

The movie was busier than Bucky had first anticipated it would be. Cars upon cars queued up to enter.

"Just be careful," Bucky whispered to her as he placed a red cap on his head that he'd kept hidden in his pocket, "there was a security camera when we first entered but I doubt facial recognition would be able to be used on that camera."

Looking behind her, Charley saw that he was right that there had been a camera where cars were slowly coming in, "I didn't even realise."

"You're not trained to realise," he told her, looking in the back of the car to see if Natasha had left a hoodie or coat for Charley to put on so her head would be hidden a bit more. Not that many people would recognize her. Whilst her name and picture had been thrown every so often in the news as a wanted criminal, he doubted she would be as rememberable as the ex-hydra assassin. The cars were all pointed towards the large screen that had been set up in the field, most people's attention would be focused on that.

But, there was never being too careful.

"I should still be on the constant look out for cameras, you might not always be there," She scolded herself. The camera had been so obvious. She wondered how many other cameras she'd just happened to walk by in the past few days without realising. Not that she rarely left her house.

"I don't want you to have to worry about that," he said with a seriousness to her voice that surprised her, "focus on remembering. That's what's important." His voice softened, "have you remembered anything else?"

"No, not yet," she said quickly, not wanting to raise his hopes. She was still optimistic, now that her and Bucky were doing more together she was sure more would come back to her, "but soon I hope."

She couldn't ignore the subtle frown of hurt that appeared on Bucky's face. His hands were propped up against the bonnet of the car, as they both sat on the front.

 _Just take it_ – she told herself, trying to find the courage within herself to pull herself to do it. Nerves piled up within her, she wasn't sure why, she just knew she wanted to comfort him somehow, to remind him that even though she had forgotten she was here and that she wanted to remember. – _Why are you so scared?_

"What are you staring at?" He frowned at her and she realised she'd spent a little too long staring at his hand.

"Just something my brother said to me," She quickly recovered, coming up with the first thing she could think of "he wanted to know if the metal arm deflects bullets?"

"Oh," he picked it up. From the outside it looked like any regular arm, it moved the same but if she looked closely she could see his movements were more stilled in the metal arm than it was from his regular one, "yeah it does."

"Pretty cool. Must be helpful."

"Well not all of us can have a vibranium shield or an iron suit to save us from bullets," a slither of annoyance at the conversation turning to his metal showed in his tone, so she quickly dropped the subject wanting to hit herself for her stupidity. He had the arm covered… of course he wouldn't want to talk about it.

He settled his arm back down at his side and she was back to her original thought.

Just take his hand… it's as a simple as. This time she was carefully eyeing his body language out of the corner of her eye for fear she'd be caught. _Was dating always this hard?_

Truth be told she could only remember one date she'd been on, and even that was a little hazy. Luke had been his name, and she was sure it hadn't even been that long ago. All she knew was that it had been super awkward and that it had ended with her running out on him. For what reason she had no idea.

Without thinking she reached out and took hold of her hand in his. His surprise was obvious as her taking his hand forced him to lose the support of his arm that was helping him sit upright. She had to bite her lips to stifle the laugh that dared to escape when he almost fell off the car bonnet.

The winter solider, the most deadliest assassin history has ever known was caught off guard because someone tried to hold his hand.

"Sorry," She glowed red, the embarrassment setting in. Luckily they hadn't pulled away and their hands were still connected.

"No, no it's fine," he spoke softly, looking down at their hands with a bemused grin, "didn't expect to be taken by surprise like that."

The move started not long after, as all the cars had successfully slotted inside and the entrance doors closed. The movie was a classic and Charley knew it so well, it was often on TV. She didn't understand how she could remember something as futile as films and tv shows but not her own past. It was like she knew what happened in the film but she couldn't remember where _she_ had been when she had watched it.

She and Bucky shared a hearty giggle when a little kid screamed when the wicked witch of the west appeared.

As the film progressed she noticed they'd got a lot closer. At some point his arms was wrapped around her shoulders, as her head rested against his, one of his layers of jackets wrapped around her.

She imagined, for him it was as if no time had passed and they were back to how they used to be. But for her she was experiencing it all over again, and she couldn't help but feel elated at it. She allowed herself the privilege to move closer, to close the gap of air between them seeing no reason as to why she should stop herself.

"Do you remember us watching this for the first time?" Bucky said, peeling his eyes away from the screen just as Dorothy threw a bucket of water over the wicked witch. His eyes scanned her for any sign of recognition.

"no, I'm sorry"

The magic that she'd felt minutes before dispersed as Bucky's arms slackened around hers just a little.

"I didn't realize we had watched it before together?"

"No, it's okay," Bucky nodded. Even in the dim light she could see a hopeless frown forming on his face, "I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

The film ended soon after. The ride home filled with forced conversation that Charley was driving forward as Bucky only seemed to want to nod and add one lined comments here and there. It was almost a relief when her childhood home came into view.

"Thanks for the night out, I enjoyed it," it was only partially a lie. Everything had been going swimmingly until her memory loss became an issue… again.

"Yeah," Bucky nodded absently, his eyes pointed down to nothingness.

"We should do it again."

"Uh- yeah," he agreed pulling himself whatever trance he was in to face her fully, "I was thinking tomorrow. Could you meet me here?"

Gently he picked up her hands to his eye level and began to jot down an address onto it. Charley recognized the address immediately as it was close to a park she used to go to as a child.

"Isn't that abandoned?" She asked.

"Natasha's promised it isn't. She set up a safe house just in case." He was starting for form a respect for the double agent, Charley could see this and had to remind herself that was all there was to it; respect, "just meet there tomorrow... and be careful"

"I will do."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The following day Charley made sure to arrive early. For the first time since arriving back home she left the house on her own in the early hours of the morning. She wasn't sure why Bucky was allowing her to get there by herself when usually he was so protective over her, chanting on about this Hydra (she still had no true idea who they were, after doing multiple google searching however she got a rough idea about how bad they were and the fact they had an interest in her and Bucky frightened her). Nevertheless she wanted to prove she could go out on her own and took the backdoor on her way out, climbing over her garden fence with the hood of her hoodie pulled over her head.

She spent the journey looking out for CCCTV cameras. Not that there was many, her childhood home was set in a smaller town. Even still, she kept her head low and ears attentive to everything around her.

She reached the large field in a matter of minutes. It was exactly how she remembered it, daisy's were popping out and the green shone brighter than ever. A few puddles pooled the area which Charley tried to avoid. Her shoes were clean and she had no intention of dirtying them.

As she travelled through the field, keeping a keen out for Bucky, memories clouded her vision. A demolished swing set was just to her left but she was sure she had a memory where it was fully functioning as she remembered her younger self pleading her dad to push her on it. Another fond memory came to mind, of her siblings playing hide and seek came to mind as she stared off at the trees in the far distance. She'd always loved that game.

"Reminiscing about the good old days, are we?" came a voice and she spun around to face it, smiling when she saw it was just Bucky. He had his usual thick hoodie on and a red cap, black leather gloves on his hands. It was far too hot to be wearing anything leather in this weather.

"I used to come here when I was a kid," She explained, "it's weird sometimes I don't even realise I've still lost memories until I'm reminded of them. I'd completely forgotten about this place until you showed me the address last night."

"After I started getting my memories back, when I was free from Hydra's control, I went back to Brooklyn. It was where I grew up. It helped bring back so many memories with Steve," he said, a smile playing on his lips as he thought about how nice it was to share this intimidate detail with her as he knew she'd understand. Whilst he'd never wished to have anything in common with her, her memory loss gave them something to relate over.

"If you can remember stuff from seventy years ago, I better be able to remember the last few years," Charley sulked miserably, "It's not fair otherwise."

Bucky chuckled, "just give it time – come, it's this way."

"What's this way… the abandoned house?"

"Romanoff's safe base she told me about," Bucky said moving through the long grass, he could hear Charley behind him, clumsily clomping through it too as she tried to catch up to his stealthy speed.

"I just don't get it… how can I remember so much of my childhood but spending time with you hasn't helped my memory a bit?" She asked conversationally, "it doesn't make sense."

She'd been wondering about it for so long. How was it possible to remember everything else except what she wanted to know? She couldn't help but be curious about this other life of hers… one that had superheroes, assassins and spies. It was like something out of a book.

"Maybe subconsciously you wanted to forget," his voice was quite, "some of what you experienced was probably traumatising to someone who was as normal as you – you were attacked a few times, saw a man die in front of you. It wasn't all happy…"

"I suppose," she shut up after that; she could hear this was not the line of conversation Bucky wanted to go down. She just had to focus on getting her memories back, "so what's here?"

"A place to train."

"Train?"

"You said you wanted me to teach you again."

From the outside the abandoned building looked to be falling to pieces. A window shutter lay at Charley's feet, mould growing around it. graffiti artwork was sprayed across the length of the house, making it look much brighter than it actually was. But even the artwork was faded. As she took one step into the house the floorboards creaked beneath her feed and she was careful to hold onto something as she walked, in case they fell in.

"Are you sure it's safe to come in here?" She asked tentatively, keeping her eyes posted to the floor, watching for any cracks.

"I promise it is. If I can walk across it, you'll be fine," he laughed over his shoulder. He was right, he was probably five times the weight of her… a part of him was even metal and he was walking across the floor with no problem.

He guided her into one of the rooms in the house and Charley's draw dropped down. From the outside you would never have guessed such a room existed in such an old house. A large foam mat had been spread across the floor, the walls painted white and the windows boarded up so the room was engulfed in darkness, Bucky went to turn a switch which lit up the whole room as white LED lights were marked around the room in various places.

In the centre of the room was a makeshift wrestling ring, a large punching bag at the centre of it. Exercise machines were laid out around the space, lockers stacked high in the corner and bench chairs around the edges. Charley was surprised to see not a speck of dust laid waste on any of the furniture.

"fucking hell," was all she could think to say, "Natasha did all of this?"

"She said you've been here before."

"I have?" She couldn't remember that. Not that it was a surprise.

"She said you two met up plenty of times last year to continue your training," he said, throwing a playful punch at the punching bag at the centre. He didn't use his full strength as he knew it would have broken within seconds, "she set it up so it was a secure safe location. Apparently you met up in secret and told no-one."

"I didn't know we were that close of friends," guilt weld up in her as she realised how much she had dismissed the spy over the past few days. In her defence, she was terrifying.

"I'm as surprised as you are," Bucky agreed, "I didn't know Romanoff could actually have friends – I did wonder how you got so good though, I didn't think a few lessons at the Avengers base would have gotten you to be as good as you are."

Charley looked around the room, trying to recall anything. As she concentrated on the centre of the room déjà vu hit her hard and she had the strongest sense of being there before. A small vision of Natasha with red hair dancing around the space as Charley tried to avoid her. It came as quickly as it had come however.

"Good at what? Fighting?" Charley frowned, deciding not to focus on the memory. It was hardly believable anyway as she looked herself up and down. She wasn't strong, and she was sure if she ever had to run from anything she'd be out of breath within seconds.

"You managed to take me down enough to survive," Bucky said, fearing her reaction. He didn't want to bring up the time he had almost killed her simply because he had lost control again. There were some memories that were better off forgotten, "no one who wasn't enhanced has ever been able to do that before."

"Oh…" Charley momentarily stopped admiring the room to glance at Bucky who she noted was being careful not to look her in the eye, "sorry."

"No, I was proud."

"Proud I managed to kick your arse?" She sniffled a laugh, "you've got some weird kinks, Barnes."

The winter soldier blushed, turning his back on her fully to hide is and got busy trying to find the punching gloves.

"Just remind me again, why did I need to take you down – was this in training?"

Quietly he told her, "no… someone found a way to take control over my mind again and I lost control." He coughed and brought up the punching gloves that had been placed at the bottom of a storage box. Passing them to Charley he said, "try and hit me. I won't fight back but I'll try and block your moves."

"O-kay…" Charley's mouth remained open in an 'O' shape as she thought about how she was going to go about it, "So there's no beginners tutorial or anything just straight in there…" She said more to herself, causing Bucky to laugh.

"You're no beginner, you know what you're doing."

"The old me did."

"You _are_ the old you. Now hit me." He said clearly. He didn't want to be hard on her. He'd trained people before and he had been brutal but he understood being brutal was sometimes the best method of teaching, it forced them to learn quickly rather than slowly and precisely. Even still he'd be damned if he began teaching Charley the way he had taught the other winter soldiers, especially since she already knew how to fight.

Nervously Charley threw a punch in Bucky's direction, she barely got contact with him as he jumped away.

"Don't hold back," he said, noting her hands shaking, "you're not going to hurt me."

"I'm worried about you hurting me."

"I already told you, I'm not going to fight back – hit me."

This time she threw everything she had into her punch. Still, Bucky ducked, turned and brought his non-metal fist up to her hand to block hers. He caught her first swiftly and quickly, bringing it back down to her sides.

"This is hopeless," She groaned.

"Keep going, put your feet into combat position"

Groaning against her better judgement she moved her feet apart and turned slightly sideways, bringing her hands up in front of her in a defence position. Bucky glowered with pride when he didn't need to explain what the combat position was… maybe she remembered it subconsciously. He hoped.

She brought her fist up and seethed in pain when it made contact with his metal arm instead, but she kept going anyway and Bucky kept blocking. They danced around the space. Bucky was taken aback by how much force she was placing in her punches as he had to take many steps back. Even still she made no further contact with him.

"How did I take you down last time," she hissed after a good twenty minutes of unsuccessful sparring. He could tell each punch she sent was slowly getting weaker and weaker. Perhaps it was time to stop but he needed to see if she remembered anything.

"Be more creative," he challenged.

"I'm not nearly as strong as you though," she screamed as Bucky managed to tango his way around her so he ended up behind her. She span around to face him. She was beginning to get irritated as he didn't even seem out of breath, "you're annoying me now."

"I thought you wanted to use the training to get close to me," he smirked as she blushed a bright red, "and you don't have to be strong to win a fight, sometimes it's about being clever."

Those words sounded similar to her as she thought she'd heard Natasha say them at some point. An idea formed in her head and she let her instinct take over. For a moment she neglected the punching and instead surprised Bucky by suddenly flinging herself on the floor, using her arms to place all her body weight on as she span her legs at Bucky's feet.

Not expecting it, Bucky didn't have time to defend himself as her legs caught his ankles tripping him up. It wasn't enough to make him fall over but he was certainly knocked back a few paced, hitting his back on the punching bag.

Charley rose from the floor, proudly smirking at Bucky's collapsed form.

"Well done!" he breathed, suddenly winded.

"I don't think the whole punching style is for me," she admitted, pulling the gloves off completely and throwing them aside, "I'm definitely not strong enough for that. I think I'll opt for a more speedy and stealthy approach next-"

Before she had time to finish her sentence, Bucky lunged at her, dropping to the floor as he pulled the same move on her as she did to him. His, however, knocked her swiftly off her feet. Her back connected with the floor with a loud thump and her head hit hard against the foam floor. She at least now knew why Natasha had opted for foam.

"hey!" she groaned, looking up at him as he sat on top of her a playful smirk sported across his face, "I was mid-talking, you said you wouldn't fight back."

"Always expect an attack," he reasoned, "if you're going to be quick and stealthy you've got to expect it back too."

She nodded, trying to ignore how close they were as she was essentially pinned loosely to the floor, loose enough she was sure she could wiggle out of it if she wanted too. She wasn't sure _if_ she wanted too though. Having Bucky on top of her didn't seem like anything to moan about.

" _and_ maybe I just wanted to get closer to you," his smirk widened and Charley's stomach did an excited summersault.

By the end of the day Charley had come a long way. Ditching the punching gloves had defiantly been a smart move as it allowed her to be let loose on what Natasha had taught her. A lot of her moves were identical to that of the black widow. It just meant Bucky would have to change his teaching style to fit her fighting style. Maybe he could ask Romanoff for some tips.

He drove her back as - in his opinion - it was much too dark to walk back on her own. Not that Charley minded, Bucky's company was much more enjoyable than walking alone and watching out for people following and cameras watching her. She felt a lot more safer with him by her side.

"I won't come any closer in case your moms in," he said as he stopped the car at the end of her street. Charley gave a hearty chuckled but sobered quickly at the thought of her family, knowing she'd have to face the disapproving stares when she entered the house as her family would realise she spent the day with Bucky, "Everything okay at home?" Bucky asked suddenly, analysing her expression dropping into a frown at the mention of her mom.

She shrugged, "it's great being back home where I finally have memories and being around them… but, they pretend it all didn't happen. Like there isn't half of my memories that is missing and I'm afraid to bring it up in case they get mad. I get it they just want to be safe but I still feel like a part of me is missing."

In truth she partly regretted coming home… maybe she wouldn't have the memories of her childhood like she did now but her days out with Bucky gave her a sense of relief from the hidden truth that lied in her memory. It was like something was stored away inside her mind and she needed a key to unlock it. Her family pretending that part of her life didn't exist wasn't helping in the slightest.

"It's surprising how much of a person is made up by their memories," Bucky nodded, staring off at nothingness as though he too was remembering something painful. Finally after a moments pause he looked her fully in the eye, "That's why it's important to keep making them."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Days passed into weeks, and her and Bucky met up almost every day, mostly to train but there was the odd occasion where they went on dates. Much to Charley's surprise, the Winter Soldier was the romantic type.

For their first date they went ice skating. She was impressed to see Bucky pick up the skill quite quickly, and naturally her clumsy self-spent most of it clinging to his arm, but she assumed that was his intent anyway as he had no complaints about it.

For their second outing Bucky took her to the park for a picnic. The day started perfectly but Charley grew suspicious when he was suddenly moving quickly, casting a look over his shoulder in panic.

"What is it?" she whispered in his ear as he clutched her hand just a little tighter, "Why are we suddenly rushing to get out of here?"

"Hydra." He said simply.

"What?" She'd seen no sign of an evil cooperation looming.

"I recognized one of their spies by the benches. Quickly, move…" he grabbed her hand and pushed her in front of him.

"Are you sure?" She said, as the neared the park entrance, her heart thumping out of her chest. Bucky's hand on hers was at least reassuring.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting, guns to suddenly go off, explosions in the distance. Anything, but instead there was nothing and her and Bucky managed to get to the car and drive off, "Are you sure you saw right?"

Bucky drove, but she kept seeing him dart an eye to his mirrors to look behind him with anticipation. She leaned back in the chair and took a deep breath. Bucky knew what he was doing, she needed to trust him.

"Yes I'm sure."

"But nothing happened," charley stressed, trying to remember anyone who looked suspicious looking. Not that her memory was serving her very well lately… "If they were after us they would have done something right. Isn't this a Nazi organization?"

"They were probably there to just observe," He said absently, focusing more on the road than her, "which means they're probably planning something, and are waiting until the right opportunity to strike."

She sighed, "I understand if you have to go back to Wakanda, it's not safe here. I shouldn't expect you to stay."

"I didn't realize you were in such a rush to get rid of me," Bucky smirked coyly over his shoulder and she was glad to see the seriousness of the situation had passed. She shook her head, the truth was she was growing quite use to Bucky's company and Natasha's. Not that she saw the spy very often, and the thought of them leaving didn't sit well with her. But, she wasn't about to be selfish and risk their lives if they were safer somewhere else. Hydra didn't seem like people to be messed with. Charley opened her mouth to say all of this but he cut her off, "and I don't think they were after me."

"What?" She span fully in her chair to face him, her heart doing a double take. Did she hear him right? "You think they're after me?"

"Why else would they be here?"

"Should I be going back to Wakanda then?" she questioned hesitantly, afraid of the answer.

"Do you want too?"

"No, not really," She answered honestly but quietly, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

"Then don't worry about it," he said confidently, glancing at her out of the side of his eyes, "Me and Romanoff will deal with it."

"It's hard not to worry when a Nazi organization is after me," She frowned, "what did I even do that made them want to do me in anyway?"

Bucky didn't respond, which was way more unsettling than Charley liked to admit.

Deep down he knew the reason they were after he was because _she fell in love with him_ , and that was the hardest thing to admit.

 _*~ It started with Pizza~*_

 _Bucky turned around one corridor, only to be met with another. With only a lantern in his hand, darkness engulfed him and no matter how hard he squinted he couldn't see the end of the corridor. On edge and alert he moved forward. Scuttling ahead of him pricked at his ears, and with nothing to turn back too he headed further forward, tracing the walls with his lantern to see thick red blood smothering the walls as if chocking them. As he moved closer to it he could see the wallpaper turn into photographs, odd newspaper clippings were beginning to fall off the wall as if they hadn't been stuck on properly in the first place._

 _Murdered, missing, dead; were some of the words he could read at one glance. One picture stood out to him the most of Howard and Maria Stark. In the picture they were happy, the day of their wedding. He'd destroyed that. The wall was littered with people, all with one thing in common… it had been the Winter Solider that killed them._

 _Not wanting to look anymore but unable to tear his eyes away his heart clenched when he saw a familiar face lining the walls._

 _Charley._

" _no, no, you're not dead." He hastily rushed to the wall, tripping over his own feet to get to her. Ignoring the blood dripping down the photograph he carefully placed his metal finger over it. She wasn't dead, why was she on here? He hadn't killed her… he wouldn't… did he?_

" _But you did," a soft voice whispered behind him, so soft he barely heard it. He spun recognizing the voice to be her._

" _Charley!" he let out a breath of relief, she was here. If she was here she wasn't dead. The wall was wrong, "you're alive."_

 _The ghostly white figure took a step towards him, a look of pity marked across her face as she stared at Bucky, "is this what this is?" she said quietly. As she moved slowly towards him, her face became less shadowed and his saw tears reflecting off the light, "this was your fault."_

 _He blinked blindly as she looked down at her chest. Red marked it and it began to spread further._

" _No…" he cried, dropping the lantern to catch her as her feet gave way, "n-no, what happened? Doll-face, come on. No!"_

 _Her eyes glossed over as she stared at Bucky, pain evident on her face. One arm clutched her wound in an effort to stop the pain, the other clutched onto his arm, as if she was holding on for dear life._

" _I don't even know who you are?" panic erupted in her voice, "Who are you! Why did you have to kill me!"_

Bang.

Bucky awoke with a start. Sweat trickling down his forehead as he realised he was now on the floor, having fallen off the couch at some point during the nightmare. Eyes still adjusting to being awake, he looked towards the source of noise that awoke him, knowing he should have been more on edge if Hydra were to attack. Getting up he pulled himself into combat position but saw it was only Romanoff who had slammed the front door shut on her way in.

"Sorry," she shrugged as if it was no big deal, "didn't mean to wake you."

"It's fine." He huffed, glossing past it mostly because he was glad she'd woken him from that nightmare world. Charley was alive, he hadn't killed her. This world was definitely better. If he didn't want to admit he'd just had a nightmare… he'd be thanking her, "Where were you?"

"I found a Hydra trail," She said nonchalantly but Bucky's shoulders squared alert as if Hydra was about to burst in and attack, "don't worry, it ended up being a cold lead but they're definitely still here- I got poptarts though," She held up a brown paper bag that she'd walked in carrying under her arm, "England doesn't have as many flavours as home does but they'll do. How's Charley's memories coming along?"

"Fine," he said gruffly, not wanting to talk about it. Despite him and Charley slowly forming back their connection like it was once, he could tell she still looked at him like a stranger. It just wasn't the same.

"Nightmare?" She asked, pointing at his rough appearance.

" _It's fine_."

Romanoff held a groceries back under her arm as she made her way to the kitchen, beginning to unpack everything.

"You know I've only been to England once or twice before this," Romanoff began and Bucky could tell she was about to tell him a story, which he really wasn't in the mood for. Trying to supress a groan he began setting up his bed on the couch again in an attempt to drain out the deadly assassins voice, "I've never stayed for this long. As a kid I stayed mostly in Russia, it's where I was trained until I hit eleven where I was sent to all sorts of places. _Then_ when I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury – _well,_ he thought I was comfortable with everything, and it's how I liked him thinking. I didn't want him thinking I couldn't do my job – whenever there was a mission in Russia I was usually the one assigned to it. I knew the terrain better than anyone and could speak the language more fluently than any other agent. Even though I did the mission with no questions asked, I always hated going back there… to the country where I was trained. It reminded me of my demons." She paused and Bucky found himself listening intently but allowed her the respect of not looking at her. He knew this was a vulnerable topic for her and could feel the emotion flowing through her voice, he respected her enough to allow her this moment to herself, "I was always pretty lucky when it came to nightmares… maybe it's because I've supressed that part of my life, but, whenever I went back to Russia my nightmares were worse than ever-"

"Why are you telling me this?" He sat up, finally looking at her and was shocked to still see her working on cooking the poptarts as if she hasn't paused at all to explain her story.

"Because I understand that seeing Charley in this state is yours to my Russia."

Gulping back a lump that appeared in his throat he tentatively moved closer to her. Her eyes never left what she was doing, but the closer he moved the more he was able to read her. Despite claiming to be an emotionless assassin she had never appeared more vulnerable.

"I'm worried she won't ever remember," he said quietly, shocked at his own allowance to open up to Romanoff. _She'd opened up to him, the least he could do is return the favour;_ he told himself. _That's the only reason I'm telling her this_. He went on, "Even if she does accept me, it still isn't the same. She doesn't remember anything we've been through…" he sighed, "Maybe it's better off this way." The thought of his dream reappeared in his mind and he shook it off, needing a quick topic changer, "Why have you stuck around for so long anyway?"

"I used to think to do something for someone else meant you owed them a debt," She began, "but over the years I've realised that sometimes you do things just because you care. I care about Charley because she's my friend. Is that a good enough reason for you, Barnes?"

He nodded. If she was helping Charley just because she cared, he could see not fault in that.

"Have you got anyone special, Romanoff?" he asked out of nowhere. He knew he was treading on some very thin ice, the topic of love between assassin and assassin was rarely a conversation spoken but he couldn't help but ask, he'd been curious about Romanoff for a long time now, she seemed to understand what he was going through. It spiked his curiosity further and it seemed like a better time than any to ask the dreaded question.

From what Bucky could tell, Steve had held Romanoff in very high regard and it interested him to hear if her and Steve had ever been an item… or could be an item.

"Love is for children."

"No it's not," but shook his head and Natasha responded by bowing hers ever so slowly.

"No, it's _not_ ," she agreed changing her mind, "I guess it's easier to pretend love is a fable than to risk getting hurt by it."

"Who was he?" He asked, "Or _she_?"

"I think he's forgotten I exists," Her voice cracked. Alarmed Bucky sat up straighter and quickly assessed her body language for any further signs of distress. As quick as it came, Natasha pulled herself together, "it seems he's been wiped off the face of the earth, no one's seen him in a few years."

"Maybe he's in hiding?"

"He's not exactly the kind that can be hidden very well…" She trailed off, the ringing of the toaster telling them their poptats were ready, "maybe it's for the best anyway."

"It'll work itself out in the end," Bucky said with a lack of anything better to say.

"Like you and Charley will," She finished.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the night as Bucky tried to settle himself down into sleep but thoughts of his nightmare plagued at his mind. What if it was a warning? No… he didn't believe that nonsense, and besides Hydra would have to get control over him again to make him turn against Charley and that wasn't going to happen. He would make sure of it.

Worried, his thoughts turned to the winter solider book that was still out there somewhere. What if someone got their hands on it? He'd been in their control again. It was vital he continued Charley's training, but it was clear he wasn't getting very far with it and with Hydra watching them (which was unnerving enough) he needed to secure the idea that she could protect herself. Natasha had been right… Charley's style of fighting was much too similar to hers for him to continue any further.

With his mind fresh on the thought, he pulled his phone out and typed out a message hastily. He always found it difficult typing with only one useable hand.

 _Come round here for lunch tomorrow, we need to discuss some things with Natasha – Bucky._

He had thought he'd texted it much too late and had expected a reply the next morning, however, a minute passed before a reply came though.

 _Sure, I'll bring Pizza x –Charley_

 **A/N I have a feeling this chapter was very rushed and quick. I was trying to cram a lot of things into the chapter, there was meant to be much more but I'll put it in the next one as the next is supposed to a relatively smaller chapter. I'm sorry if there's typos in this. I only read through I once afterwards, I might have still missed some somethings**

 **Mcduffie: I'm sorry! I saw you reviewing and it made me smile, I'm sorry for taking so long but you gave me the umph to get on with it so thanks!**

 **Elliot Locksley: there might be a few more chapters now as I've just has another idea for one or two more but that all depends if I write it exactly how I imagine it too go. Usually it never goes that way, lol. Hmm, I don't know. I might do, it depends what happens in infinite war probably. When I watch infinity war and if I get an idea I probably will. Thanks so much, glad you're enjoying it!**

 **.2017: Thank you! She'll remember soon, I promise.**

 **Guest: haha, maybe she'll actually start to remember if she reads her story. I do feel like I'm dragging her memory loss on for a bit, so I promise she'll remember soon (who knows, maybe even in the next chapter :P) Thank you so much for this lovely review, it made me smile and made my day!**

 **BitterSweet256: I'm sorry, if I could I'd continue writing it but I feel like I'm coming to the end of their story. Depending on what the infinity war storyline is in the MCU I may continue it on then but who knows, I may not have the inspiration for it. Thank you so much!**


	44. Pizza IIII

Charley tapped her phone screen off, a fond smile teased on her face as she thought of Bucky. Whilst the battle in her mind was still ongoing she certainly found relief in her day outings with her metal armed assassin. Bucky had asked her to come over to his tomorrow, her heart leapt at the thought – although technically the apartment was hers, it never felt like home to her.

Absently she stroked her cat, who had found a spot between the crook of her legs. Charley's leg had to twist in an awkward way to make room for her cat, making it impossible to sleep. Not that she would have anyway, her mind was racing too fast.

"You okay there, hun," a knock sounded from her door, and she turned so see her mum holding a mug of hot coco. Delicately she placed it on the side table, "I could see your light on and realised you were still awake, thought you might like some."

"aw, thanks mum," Charley grinned, she wasn't going to refuse a mug of coco. Carefully she pressed the mug to her lips and began to indulge in its yumminess, "what are you doing up so late?"

"I was worried about you, couldn't sleep."

Charley had to restrain herself from letting out an eye roll, knowing her mother was only trying to care about her but it was starting to get irritating. She'd never felt as good as she felt now, or at least what she could remember. Everything was perfect. Her and Bucky's relationship was growing closer, her fighting technique was coming together quite nicely and she had a feeling a lot of it was to do with muscle memory, and most of her childhood memories had come back to her.

"You know I'm okay mum," She said seriously, placing the mug down on her side table knowing she was about to be in for a long lecture from her mum about coming to her if she needed help. Not that she didn't appreciate her mums efforts for being there for her, but weeks had now passed and she wasn't a child, she didn't need mollycoddling.

"I know you meet up with him during the day when me and your dad are at work," her mum said sternly, perching herself at the end of the bed. The mouthful of hot coco suddenly became a lot harder to swallow as her throat became thick.

"how-"

"Common sense," She rolled her eyes, the joke of her statement became lost as Charley knew a much serious conversation was too follow, "and your brother accidently let it slip but I already knew you were."

"I'm sorry," Charley managed to win the battle of swallow the rest of her coco in one go, sitting up straight to prepare herself for the lecture to come (that she would probably ignore as soon as her mum exited the room).

She wasn't sorry really. She was sorry she had lied to her parents, and went to see Bucky behind their back. It was a violation of trust between them… but, she knew they would have made her promise to not see him, which was something she couldn't afford to do. For one, her memories were getting so much better, and although not much had come back about her Avengers life, it didn't feel so much like a shadow anymore, but something that will come back eventually.

Secondly, escaping with Bucky everyday gave her something to do. There wasn't much too do at home, except watch Netflix (which was exciting as she found most of the stuff on there she couldn't remember, and it was as though watching it fresh again) and stare blankly at the disgustingly hot pink walls of her bedroom, wishing she was somewhere other than home.

Thirdly, she just _wanted_ to see Bucky.

Coming home seemed like such a good idea a few weeks ago, but now, with her mother pretending everything was fine, she felt like the house walls were engulfing her.

Annoyance swelled inside her at the thought of her Brother. Of course he ratted on her, it probably wasn't even an accident and he'd just told their mum behind her back. It sounded like something he would do. One thing was sure… she wanted all those sweets she gave him back, "That little shit." She mumbled aggressively. She knew her mum heard as a sharp drawn out breath followed, but she didn't say anything about it.

Her leg was patted gently, "Look, I'm going to say this one more time and one more time only," she took a deep breath for effect, "I want you to stop seeing him."

Charley scoffed, she'd been expecting this, "You can't tell me to do this. This isn't a period drama where you can tell me who I can and can't see and even if you could I won't… Bucky's been really trying to help me get my memories back."

"I thought you said you had already got all your memories back."

"My _childhood_ memories!" Charley howled, "I can't remember anything of the Avengers or Bucky or my life in Washington!"

"Maybe that's for the best."

In a fit of rage, Charley kicked her feet away from her mum, bringing them swiftly up to her chin as her hand dropped onto the bedsheets. In the jerky movement, Charley's arm was knocked by her own knee, sending her hot coco spilling over the bed. Mabel jumped up, her tails sticking up straight as she dived for her hanging shelves, the other end of the room.

"See this is what happens when you have a temper tantrum!" Her mum stood up sharply, hot coco browning her nice white jumper. All the guilt Charley felt in that moment at having made a mess, diminished in seconds, "I came up here to have an adult conversation and you throw your drink over me."

In her defence, she hadn't meant to throw the drink over her.

"No you didn't!" She shouted, her voice shrill, "you came up here to speak to me like a child… as always! You can't tell me what to do."

"I only want what's best for you…"

"Then don't!" she screamed, pushing her covers away from her, "Bucky's invited me round my old apartment for tomorrow but I think I'll go sleep over there if you keep carrying on like this."

Charley got up and began to get dressed into something other than her pyjamas, only half glancing guiltily at her hot coco covered duvet.

"He's staying at your old apartment?" Her mum asked, getting up and Charley noticed how she conveniently went to stand in front of the door. It looks like she was going to have to push through her to get out.

 _Oh well… there's always the window_ She thought, judging that she could climb out her window quite easily and land on the ground without so much as a bruise.

"Yeah, it was somewhere for him to stay low," She replied stiffly, outdoor clothes now fully donned. All she needed now was some pizzas… she wasn't going to Bucky's without them.

"Please don't stay with him," Her mum stressed, stretching her arms across the door in a desperation to keep Charley locked inside, "We'll stop talking about it for now, just don't go tonight. I don't trust him."

"I know him a whole lot better than you do," She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her mum's dramatic appearance and rather pushed forward but found her way out blocked again, "This is silly, get out of my way."

"He made you lose your memoires!"

"As I've told you before, he got me out of there, it wasn't his fault."

"I don't believe that, your life became so much worse since he got into it!"

"ughh," Charley let out a growl, and took a step back from the door. Arguing against her was useless, "I don't even know why I'm staying here anymore."

Taken by surprise by the harsh cut of Charley's words, Alice Weller stalled. Guilt coursed through Charley as her mum's shoulder shrugged in defeat, her hand on the door slackening. Although the guilt was pressing her to say sorry, she knew she couldn't if she wanted to leave. Maybe Wakanda had been a good place for her to be.

"You don't mean that," She whispered hotly, her eyes brimming with angry tears.

Not knowing how to answer such a complicated statement. Her head was spinning. Her mum was her comfort and coming home had helped her memories, but what wasn't helping was pretending her life with the Avengers was non-existent. She wouldn't understand.

Instead of answering, she pushed past her and headed straight for the front door. She barely had enough time to get her shoes and navigate the car keys to the family car when her mum came clumsily running down the stairs after her.

"Charley, please don't…" was all she heard before Charley slammed the front door after her.

As soon as the front door slammed, Alice Weller ran straight back upstairs, her legs working faster than they had in years. She didn't stop until she reached her husband's side as he slept with his mouth half hanging open and drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth.

"Graham wake up!" she hissed, grabbing his shoulders and giving him one rough shake. When he only grumbled a harsh 'geroff', she shouted, "GRAHAM!"

"W-what?" he slurred, sitting up straight. His eyes winced as he looked around in alarm for the source of the noise. His face softened however when he saw the clear concern written across his wife's face, "Alice, what is it?"

In hurried words Alice garbled, "thepiecaperwithenumberonit"

Frowning, Graham Weller ran a hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up, "English please? – What's the time, it must be – Bloody hell, it's two in the morning Alice!" he exclaimed, looking at his phone that had been sitting idly, on charge by their bed, "what is so important." Alice went to open her mouth to explain again but the deep frown on her face and out of breath appearance made him quickly say, "And in words I can understand"

Alice prepared a breath before explaining, "I need the number they gave us."

This alarmed him, "What? No… we agreed we wouldn't use it."

"No-No, I know, I just-" she was on the verge of panicking again so Graham leant up and rested a hand on her shoulder. The feel of his touch made her calm down and she took another steady and well needed breath before continuing, feeling her heart thump a little slower, "She's going to see Bucky now and I think she might leave with him again, I can't lose her again…"

"Yes but she'll never forgive us if we do this," he reasoned.

"I don't care if she doesn't forgive me, at least she'll be safe," she snapped in response, "They gave us this number in case she returned and-"

"Yes, in case she returned and was willing to give up Rogers and Barnes location, which she won't be-"

She cut across him, "But it doesn't matter, she told me where Bucky is… he's at her old apartment."

Graham paused, but Alice could see his eyes looking out into the hallway where Charley's door was just ajar. At that moment her cat peeked out and made its way to their room.

"This is her home," Alice assured the doubt on her husband's face, "I'm not going to let him take her from us again… he'll get her killed. Him and those other Avengers."

Despite the doubtful stare on Charley's dad's face, he leaned over the side of their bed and pulled open a draw. Inside lay an untidy sticky note where a number had been scribbled on in thick marker pen. He went to hand it to her but retracted his hand immediately.

"I'm not going to tell you to not do this because it clearly is important that we do," he said, "But I want you to think about this first. The government gave us this number if Charley had come to her senses and wanted to turn them over herself. They might not give her back her freedom but instead lock her up with them. I just want you to consider that."

Slowly he stretched his arm out again and handed her the sticky note. She took it with shaking hands, still trying to calm down from her panicked state. Enclosed in her fist she thought about it.

"I know what you're saying," She said carefully, swallowing on dry saliva. Her eyes travelled up to the Captain America book ends they had in the bedroom, it had been a present from her for Graham a few years back. He had been such a big fan of the hero when they were off saving the world, away from their doorstep. They could be idolised from afar. Now her daughter was involved in that world; making them stay up all night in worry as Charley vanished when the events of the Sokovia accords fell down, or when government agent turned up on their doorsteps – Alice couldn't even begin to describe the fear that she thought they were going to tell her, her daughter had been found dead – and finally their daughter turning up, weeks later, attached to the metal armed assassin (whose violent history had only recently been released to the public eye) with her memories missing.

"Even if she ends up going to prison too for her involvement, at least she'll be safe and away from them there."

"Please don't do something you're going to end up regretting." Graham warned, but it was too late as she'd already began dialling in the numbers.

 _*~it started with Pizza~*_

Charley slammed her fist against the door. Stiffly holding two boxes of pizzas in the other hand, she waited in the hallway, her eyes glaring harshly at the door as if it was her mum who she desperately wanted to yell at.

A few staggering footsteps later, Bucky opened the door. She was momentarily stunned by his ragged appearance, clearly only just having woken up, wearing grey track-suit bottoms and a thin tank top that defined his abs.

"oh… hi," she staggered, forgetting –for a moment –why exactly she was there, "sorry, I woke you… I'll come back tomorrow."

What was she thinking? It was the early hours of the morning… she'd been so focused on her anger she hadn't thought of Bucky. She span around to turn, formulating the idea to sleep in the car tonight and come back tomorrow morning at first light. Bucky and Natasha were early risers she gathered.

"No, I'm glad you came," Bucky called her back just as she was reaching the stairs to leave.

"You are?"

"Natasha's up too, neither of us could sleep," Bucky said, stepping aside to make way for her to pass into the apartment.

"I brought pizza," she passed a laugh, attempting to ignore the awkwardness that crossed between them. She held up the pizza boxes that were already in perfect vision under her arm, "I did promise I would."

The smell of pepperoni pizza filled the air as she popped them on the counter. Natasha appeared seemingly from the shadows of the room, still wearing out door clothes and a scarf wrapped around her shoulders.

"It's good to see you Charlotte," She grinned and Charley tried her best to smile back – The Russian assassin still intimidated her.

"Thanks Natasha," she forced a smile, "are you going somewhere?"

"No, I was just out."

That flattened Charley a little, she was hoping it would just be her and Bucky tonight but she didn't express these thoughts out loud, although Natasha's sudden crestfallen face told her she already knew what she was thinking.

Sensing the tension between the two girls, Bucky stepped forward

"So why are you round here so late?"

Opening the box of pizza, and treating herself to a bite she began to tell them, "I just couldn't stay in the house any longer. Mum knows we've been meeting up and she went on again about how you're dangerous and I need to stay away from you. She was treating me like a little kid, I couldn't fucking deal with it so I left… and now I'm here, with pizza most importantly," She held up the slice as if to say cheers and continued onto her second piece. She missed the passing look of warning between the two assassins.

"I am dangerous," despite the finality in his tone, there was a softness to his eyes as he searched Charley's, "you never seemed to come to terms with that."

"You're not dangerous to me."

"What are you going to do?" Natasha asked as if bored with the conversation, leaning over to grab her own slice of pizza, "She's your mother, and you came back with no memories. She's not going to forgive Barnes anytime soon."

"Thanks for the reminder, Romanoff," Bucky glared and Natasha shrugged nonchalantly.

"I was thinking we could go back to where Steve and the others are again," she said, careful to not mention the location in front of Natasha. She still wasn't sure how much she could be trusted.

"really?"

"Yeah…" her voice didn't sound sure as she tried to convince herself, "I've got my childhood memories back and it's far too risky staying here – you mentioned Hydra? I know you're worried about them and I'm just putting everyone at risk. As long as you promise not to lock me in a room again, I'll be happy to go back."

"I don't know when the next time you'll see your family will be." Bucky tried to reason.

Charley smiled softly. Bucky was trying to reason with her before she came to a decision she'd later regret. It was one of the many reasons she loved him, despite wanting desperately to leave England he was still putting her thoughts and feelings first.

"I've spent most of my life with my family, it's time I found an adventure of my own. This is what I want to do."

Excitement coursed through her at the thought of going back to Wakanda. She'd be able to be properly introduced to all the Avengers (again, as she could hardly remember meeting them for the first time). She had spent most of her days at the Wakanda base hating Steve, blaming him for locking her in a room, as she had thought as he was the leader it had been his decision. She wanted desperately to apologize to him, to get to know him. He was Bucky's friend after all, they had a lot to talk about.

Wanting to know what Bucky was thinking, she assessed his reaction. Although, she had never been very good at reading him.

Despite Natasha and Bucky having stayed up all night, they hadn't decided to turn any lights on. The room was swallowed in darkness, apart from the natural light reflecting off of the moon and through the windows. She couldn't see Bucky's face but from the slight sway of his feet and silhouette showing his shoulders slumping in defeat, she could tell he was emotional.

Wanting nothing more than to go over and hug him she stalled herself when a glint of silver caught her eye. His metal arm.

She frowned in confusion, she'd seen his arm hundreds of times before… why all of a sudden was it stopping her from moving?

Her mind raced. Suddenly she was transported to a very different scene.

 _Standing in the middle of the shop floor – dark air surrounding her – her eyes tired from lack of sleep, and her hands smothered in pizza sauce… a glint of metal in the distance…._

She must have phased out as a hand grabbed her shoulder to shake her.

"Charlotte, what's wrong?"

"I- I don't know…" Charley stuttered as she desperately tried to search for the memory. It must have been a memory, what else could it have been? "I just- hang on…" Something about the metal arm. She looked up at the arm again. She needed to remember!

 _The man had swayed a little – his left arm – silver metal – "I am going to die on the shop floor in target, holding a fucking stapler" – "I'm not going to hurt you" – the news – the helicarrier – he was wet – he had just wanted some clothes._

She stumbled herself out of the memory. Instinctively she reached out to the nearest thing to keep her balance, Natasha's arm found her and she gripped onto it for dear life. Bucky raced forward.

"What did you remember?"

Instead of answering she continued to see what else she could remember. She searched in his face, scanning every last detail until something came back to her.

As if on cue, hundreds of memory began to pound in her head, all at once. It was as if the first memory had acted as a catalyst and suddenly everything came back to her.

Their Indian night – the night he moved in – their very badly designed pillow fort – their kiss in the rain – she welcomed the memories in as if they were old friends – their movie nights and pizza nights, their Halloween together, their first Christmas together.

She opened her mouth to tell him how much she loved him, how she'd been longing to tell him that for months now but just as she went to do so, the concerned look was wiped cleanly off of his face and instead replaced by fear.

"What?" Charley chose to ask instead.

"Romanoff, did you hear that?"

One quick nod of Natasha's head was all it took before the windows burst, glass sprayed everywhere and Charley ducked to avoid the debris. With her hands covering her face as the scatter of glass collided across the floor.

Bucky and Natasha flew into action, but Charley's head was too clouded with the visions from far away. She gathered up enough focus to manage to crawl her way across the floor. Glass cutting into her hands she pulled herself around the centre counter, using it as cover.

She was still thinking about their first Christmas together.

In the far distance, gun shots sounded off of the walls – or was it in the same room with her? She could hardly concentrate on her surroundings, her brain pounded against her skull.

"B-Bucky?" She managed to breath. The situation was dire; she needed to get her head out of the clouds. Focusing on the thought of the metal armed assassin, she dared a look around the corner.

Natasha was nowhere to be seen and Bucky was masterfully fighting off seven – no eight – soldiers on his own, a pile of bodies already at his feet. She hadn't seen him in action for a while now, but she watched on in awe of him. She wasn't sure how she could help, as she scanned the scene, there wasn't a lot of her training with Natasha she remembered and a burst of fear inside of her kept her stiff. She couldn't move from this spot, her back surly pressed against the side of the counter.

"Hydra," she hissed to herself when she saw the badges patched onto their arm.

She should have left. This was all her fault. Just because she'd wanted to see her family again – Was she going to die? Was she ever going to see them again? Guilt swallowed her whole as she realized she'd never be able to make peace with her mum.

Another window crashed in front of her. Her heart jumped and a scream escaped her mouth. Legs began to jump through the window as she thought _– I can't die here_.

Springing to action, she pulled herself up, hoping everything would come back to her instinctively.

"hide." She heard the quick, sharp, breathless voice of Bucky yell over his shoulder at her, "Get out."

She shook her head, ducking to dodge an oncoming arm, "I can't." her hiding place behind the counter was compromised anyway. She took a swing at the solider but it did nothing to detour him. Months of little to no training had left her weak.

The Hydra agent punched her hard in the stomach and she grunted in pain. As she stumbled backwards from the force she saw another agent approaching, preparing to pull out his gun from his side. Realizing she wasn't going to win this fight, she jumped over the counter, giving no thought to all the items she pushed off onto the floor.

Maybe they could find a way to escape, if only they could hold them back.

As she rolled, she grabbed a knife and sprinted to Bucky's side (where most of the agents had been trying to take him down).

In the attempt to run to him, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her down. Screaming, she held the knife tighter but found it was gone from her side and now in her attacker's hands, against her throat.

"актив," the agent said in a thick Russian voice as he dragged Charley to her feet. She craned her neck back as far as it could go, away from the knife, but the further she went the more force he held the knife against her, "стоять вниз "

Over the grunts of agents fists meeting a metal one, she was surprised Bucky heard him over the sound. Nevertheless whatever words the Russian agent had said to him, seemed to resonate with the metal armed assassin, as he dropped his arms and span around to face them. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the knife at her throat, almost drawing blood, before his eyes travelled up to the man holding her.

" _Volkov_ ," Bucky growled, the shadow of his eyes growing darker than Charley had ever seen them before.

"You remember me I'm glad," he hummed under his breath, suddenly speaking English. Despite the fighting instantly stopping, the thick tension rose. Shivering under the knife she tried harder to back away from it, the cold steel brushing against her neck but Volkov snatched her hair. The tight twist pulled her back into her original position and the knife cut slightly into her throat.

Whimpering against the pain Volkov tutted, "Shouldn't have tried to get away darling." He trained his careful eye back on Bucky, "has he told you about me?"

For fear that it could only be worse if she answered, Charley remained mute.

Volkov fisted her hair again, twisting it back so hard that she was sure clumps of hair would be falling out of his hand.

"ah- please, no-"

"I asked you a question."

"No – no, he hasn't"

"And why not!" Volkov groaned like a little child who hadn't gotten his own way. The strange behaviour caused Charley's mind to go foggy as she felt as if she was being involved in a pantomime than a serious hydra attack. Bucky however remained unsurprised.

Her confusion was short-lived as he suddenly pushed her forward. Not expecting the instant collision with the floor, she fell face first, her nose connecting to the hard wooden floor. It must have been comical as there was a sudden roar of laughter from Volkov.

The room was silent as Volkov danced around the room and Charley got the impression that he was the leader of this operation and everyone did as they were told for fear of him. The insane cackling giggle came to an abrupt stop when he halted beside Bucky, his face close to his ear as he yelled, "We were best-friends, weren't we asset?"

Rigid and unmoving, Bucky's eyes never left Charley's. She wanted to get up, to run to him, to tell him it would be okay, tell him she loved him and that she remembered everything. But what good would that do… he had just been captured again by the people who had imprisoned him for seventy years. It was all her fault. She'd been so greedy and selfish to what she'd needed even though she'd been warned time and time again what could happen.

"You used to tell me everything I wanted, and did everything I asked," Volkov cheered, slinging one arm around Bucky's shoulders, "There was no Stevie or little Miss Charley in the way… tell her, _asset_ , tell her how we know each other."

Volkov removed his arm from around Bucky's shoulder who visibly was relieved. Maybe she was getting better at reading him, or maybe he was uncharacteristically showing more emotion - Charley couldn't tell - but his fear was more present than ever.

"He was my handler in the early 2000s."

"Too right I was!" Volkov roared, a senseless smile stretched across his face as he rose his hand as if to bump fists with Bucky, who only glared down at the strange man, "Under my control, the asset and me completed more missions in history together. Naturally when I heard they were trying to bring you back after your escape, I was the first to sign up. I needed my buddy back." As if doing a dramatic monologue he paused for a bit and took a deep overdrawn breath. Quickly, he marched over to Charley, dropping his knife and pulling out his gun instead, "But look what you replaced me with!" Charley screamed as she felt the gun pressed against the temple of her head, her vision compromised as it was foggy with tears, "What's special about her, eh! Tut, tut, I'm disappointed in you asset!"

He wiped her eyes of tears with the end of his gun. She shivered but tried to remain still, knowing he'd just pull her back into place if she didn't, "her families a bit dumb too."

Charley's head shot up. A tight knot formed at the back of her throat. If he had hurt them- It no longer mattered a gun was pointed at her face as she growled, "What about my family?"

"Oh, you didn't know…" he hummed tapping his gun against her nose, "Your mother was the one who told me you'd both be here."

"What?"

"Sweet woman, spoke on the phone to her a few times. She thought I was the government offering her a nice old deal. Your freedom for the winter soldier's whereabouts. I'll give it to her, it took her longer to ring me than expected but she got there eventually and now here we are."

Charley shivered. It had been her own mum who got them into this situation – no, it was her fault, if she hadn't pushed her over the edge last night none of this would have occurred. Her mum had only wanted the best for her.

"Please leave my family alone," She whimpered despite herself.

"Oh darling don't cry like that," He cocked the gun up again, "They're no use to me now, I'll leave them be – _You_ on the other hand, I can't tell if you're more useful dead now or dead later…"

She eyes the trigger and saw his hand tightening on it. Quickly, she closed her eyes… willing it to be quick.

"Волков, пожалуйста."

Volkov gasped dramatically as he eased off the trigger and span around to face his old 'friend'.

"Did I actually just hear the winter soldier beg!" He gave a delighted giggle, "This is new." He pointed the gun at her head again, "do it again. I liked it."

Bucky would get her out of this. He always did. He'd turn around and attack them all and they'd make a fight for freedom. That's always how it went.

She looked to meet his face, to confirm what she knew to be true… that he would get them out. But, his eyes were drained off hope and he barely flickered to look at her but cast his eyes to Volkov. Without missing a beat, he murmered, "Please don't hurt her."

"Mooooreee," he sung, using his free hand to cup his ear as if he couldn't hear him loud enough.

"I beg you Volkov," Bucky glowered through gritted teeth, desperation flitting through his voice, "I'll do anything."

"Is that the best you can do?"

"if you hurt her you have nothing against me!" He screamed and Volkov immediately retracted his hand, "Leave her unharmed and I'll come with you and do everything you ask, any mission you need doing, I'll do it. _Shoot her_ , and I'll kill as many people as I can in here."

Volkov's face lifted with glee, "I'm glad we could come to this arrangement," He said, as if he knew Bucky would come to this result all along.

"Bucky what the fuck!" Charley glared, "Don't you dare!"

"Charley- _shut up_ , it's fine." Bucky quickly said, still refusing to meet her eye, "I've made my decision."

Twisting around, Volkov bent on his knees to become even level with her. Somehow, this was more intimidating than when he stood above her, "I want to learn more about you."

"E-excuse me?"

"You fascinate me," He breathed, "You're so _normal_."

"So?"

"So why does the winter soldier, Hydra's greatest asset – who escaped us – only to be brought back in because he wants to save the life of someone so _normal_." He said it as if it disgusted him.

"I don't know." She really didn't understand that herself.

"we've been watching you for over a year now – it's not been easy – He's killed a few of our agents to try and stop us… and I just kept thinking that there must be something - _Something_ \- that makes you different."

Knowing she had to answer she gave a slight shrug of the shoulders (which took more energy out of her than she cared to admit) and repeated, "I don't know."

"hmmm…" He sung, "I guess we'll find out. Take em'"

An agent kicked Bucky to his knees, he groaned in pain as he fell onto the floor as if he'd suddenly collapsed from all the pressure.

"That reminds me," Volkov said as someone grabbed Charley from behind and dragged her upwards. It was a relief just to be standing further away from the mad man, "Where did the other one go? There were three heat signatures?" He circled the room one more time as if interrogating each and everyone of his crew, "Don't tell me someone let them go?"

Finally he landed in front of Bucky, "Where did they go then?"

Without missing a beat, Bucky looked up at him dead in the eye, "I don't know who you're on about."

Just as Charley thought they were done with him, Volkov spun on the spot and slapped her fully around the face with so much force, the agent holding her, dropped her and she collided with the floor painfully. The taste of iron filled her mouth.

"Care to answer me again, asset?"

Wincing Bucky replied, "Natasha Romanoff."

"The infamous spy," Volkov raised an eyebrow, "Where did she go?"

"I don't know." Volkov raised a hand to hit Charley again, who shrank away in fear but Bucky was quick to say, "I don't know! I told her to run, and find help."

Satisfied, Volkov turned to one of his agents, "Go and find her." With that he turned to leave the room, Bucky and Charley being dragged behind him. Their shoulders bumped and Charley turned a wild fearful look to him. He avoided her gaze one last time, but she felt the brief slight squeeze of her hand. She looked down and saw he'd already removed his hand from hers.

They reached outside where some of her neighbours had obviously come to see what all the commotion was about, only to be met with a bullet in the head. Tears began to fall. This was her fault.

Two vans were ahead of them and she and Bucky were separated into each of them. She screamed and kicked at her agent who held her with such force that she was thrown into the back of the van. The van door was closing and Charley struggled up, quicker than she'd ever moved before she grabbed slammed her hand on the door before it shut. A small slit of light still flittered into the back of the van as she pushed on the door harder.

"Bucky!" She cried, through the small sliver of the gap she saw Bucky being pushed into the other van with little to no resistance.

She wouldn't be separated again. She just wouldn't. With adrenaline pumping through her veins she pushed with all her might on the clothing door, battling the agent from the other side. Eventually she adjusted her position to kick it open, it flung back, hitting the agent in the face who rolled over backwards.

With no hesitation, she clambered out of the back and began to make a run for Bucky. She had no plan, all she knew was she had to get to Bucky. She couldn't let this happen. He was in their clutches again. It was her fault, all her fault.

Guns were raised to her but none of them fired, and she realized, just as she reached a foot away from Bucky, it was Volkov holding up a hand telling them to hold their fire.

"Bucky, don't let them do this," She huffed as she finally reached him. The agents holding him, tightened their grip on him as she approached, "You can't go back to them. There's only nine of them, you can fight your way out. I know you can!"

"Get back into the van, Charley – don't fight them, please, they'll only hurt you."

Her eyes swimming with tears, "It's all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have stopped fighting… not for me"

"Hey hey," he cooed, and she welcomed the small smile he gave her, "It's my choice and if it meant nothing happened to you, I'd do anything."

"I remember," She sniffed, rushing to get her words out before they took her away again, "I love you, I'm sorry."

"I love you too," he whispered so quietly she had to lean in to hear him. The agents began to push him back into the van as Volkov appeared behind her and gave her shoulder an annoyed nudge to move her away, "Just do as they say."

"Yes Miss Charley, _do as we say_ ," Volkov jeered, flashing a yellow set of teeth, "Now I say get back into your van, darling."

With one pitiful stare back as the van doors on Bucky closed, she allowed herself to be dragged away.

Natasha. Natasha would save them. She was there only hope. It was her last thought before the van door slammed shut and she was submerged in darkness.

 **A/N I realize this chapter was a lot darker than I ever planned it to be. Honestly didn't even plan for Bucky to be captured again, but I was just writing and this is where it led me. Volkov is another OC I just made up (again I've got no idea where he came from) I guess I just wanted a compelling villain – even though we're coming to the end of the fic and it might be too late to add another character, but I doubt we'll see much of him. I wanted a crazy vibe from him, so I hope that came across :D**

 **But yeah, obviously she remembered over a slice of pizza. Not anything dramatic. Just Pizza. It's the name of the fic ladies and gentleman lol.**

 **I'm hoping Tony's gonna be in the next chapter, so if any of you were missing some of the Avengers, I promise they'll be back soon.**

 **For those of you who were wondering, the person Natasha was talking about last chapter was Bruce Banner… although you can read it with whoever you want or whoever you personally ship her with. I was just sticking to the canon story.**

 **SO SORRY FOR THE SLOW UPDATE, I know it's been over a month I've just been so busy lately.**


	45. Mash

**Chapter 45**

Natasha Romanoff had always liked flying. There was something about being so high in the air, looking out at the drifting clouds that was so calming. It was as if the clouds were unaware to the wars that raged below them as they swam by, like the ocean.

She did hate, _however_ , flying on a public transport.

Having tony in a quinjet was hard enough (although perhaps she should be well trained in the art of dealing with annoying talkative people) let alone a plane full of people trying to suffocate her. She had chosen a seat by the window, sporting a brunette wig (just in case someone had already caught wind of her blonde hair) and sunglasses. Everyone seemed up for a conversation. Her neighbour had questioned her about where she was going before reciting her own weekly plans she intended to do on her own break to New York City. Natasha was only half listening, the other half of her attention was focused on the child having a temper tantrum behind her and was kicking at her chair. Thinking of ways to kill the child's parents for not controlling their spawn was enough to keep her busy for the journey.

It was best to travel this way, in the public eye you were hidden. The government or Hydra would never expect to find her on a plane full of people. Always do the unexpected, she told herself often, to keep them guessing.

When the plane landed, it was a breath of relief to be free of her neighbour's questions and stupid anecdotes she thought were funny.

She wished Clint was with her, his anecdotes were at least funny. She hadn't seen her favourite partner in months now, and hadn't worked beside him in years. How she missed the old team.

She was approaching the building closer now. Now she was free of the plane and could travel at her own pace, having stolen a car easily parked at the side of the road. She would return it, she told herself, realizing It was probably very unlikely she would. It was a nice car, and she needed a way to travel around the city discreetly.

She could see the large 'A' now, decorating the grand building. She had to squint, but she could still see. She put her foot down on the accelerator. Every second she took was a second longer Barnes and Charlotte were held captive by Hydra.

She needed Tony's help.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

The man himself had told Jarvis not to be disturbed by anyone, his doors on locked down as he tried to focus on working. If he was honest his thoughts weren't entirely with the work as he hammered away at it, trying to distract himself. Nothing could, and nothing probably ever will. Thor was on a different planet, Hulk was missing, Natasha had gone undercover, Clint and Steve were hiding off in goodness knows where. He was the only one left of the original team.

Whilst everything seemed shit. He couldn't deny the good things in his life. Moving day was soon, that would be good for the avengers. With half the team missing they needed more protection and moving to the outskirts of New York offered the protection he was looking for, especially for Pepper. The two had been going well recently, he didn't want to ruin that with another alien invasion or civil war.

With the distraction with his thoughts he completely miss aimed his hammer off the table, almost hitting his own knee if he hadn't of moved out of the way in time.

Tony sighed, "Well done Tony, you're destructive to yourself just as much as you are with everyone else…" With an annoyed growl, he threw the hammer back down on his work surface, giving up with his own task and collapsing back down on his office chair.

He needed some sleep. Exhaustion washed over him.

"Uh – Mr Stark?"

Trying to stop his eyes from closing, Tony forced himself awake and listened to his one, loyal friend.

"Yeah? What is it Jarvis?"

"There's someone outside this room who's in desperate need of talking to you."

Curious, Tony lifted his head, and squinted his eyes at the locked door wondering who could possibly be outside. They must have already passed most of his security to get to the floor level Tony was on. Whoever it was, must have known the passcodes for Jarvis to only be notifying him now. He would have to go through their security measurements with Happy again if that was the case.

"Who is it?"

"They said to keep that from you, in case there were prying ears"

Even more curious, Tony got up, "friend or foe?"

"That is difficult to estimate, I suppose it depends on your current mind-set"

"Dangerous?"

"unlikely."

Just to clear his mind of worry he asked, "Pull up the cameras in that room J."

In front of him a screen lit up. His cameras were state of the art and no matter how much he zoomed in on the woman (he could at least assess that she was female) he didn't recognize her. The blonde hair… the sunglasses… although – perhaps. He zoomed in on her face again and saw the infamous Romanoff Smirk as she looked up into the camera.

"Let her in," Tony decided and the doors sprang open.

"Well if it isn't my favourite assassin," Tony clapped his hands as Natasha Romanoff came strolling in, her eyes already roaming the room… for what he had no idea. "Romano-" suddenly, Natasha flew at him and pushed a hard hand over his mouth. In the force he backed up against the desk.

"Don't say my name out loud, I don't know whose listening in." slowly she released him and Tony caught his breath from the sudden spring of movement.

"Wow, okay, good to see you too – I'm not sure about the blonde, it doesn't suit you."

"it's a good cover."

"That's true, I barely recognized you on the camera."

"barely?" She scoffed, "you weren't meant too at all."

"Going to have to stop smirking I'm afraid."

"I'm not sure I can do that," Natasha remarked coolly, offering him the smirk. Tony had had enough of the friendly banter and wanted to know why she was there. It wasn't like Natasha to drop in for a chat, especially when it was him that had caused her to go on the run.

"Not that I'm happy to see you, but why are you here?"

Natasha's smirk fell, "I need your help."

"Say again?"

Glaring, Natasha wasn't impressed, "You heard, I'm not going to say it again Stark."

"I never thought I'd see the day," Tony remarked, offering her his own smirk, "Is living on the run not suiting you, Romanoff?"

"No thanks to you," she responded swiftly, all humour evaporated from her voice. The tension rose and Tony could do nothing but nod in agreement. He had been in the one to tell Ross about her betrayal to the team, he should have known her loyalty wasn't secure, she'd been much better friends with Steve. He shouldn't have expected her to betray him the way he thought she would. _He_ shouldn't have betrayed her.

He was no better.

"I'm sorry," Tony bowed his head, finding it hard to look her in the eyes. He should have covered for her. Not knowing what else to say he added, "What can I do for you?"

"I need to find Steve."

He hadn't been expecting that.

Almost chocking on air, he looked up and blustered, "Why do you think I can help?"

"You can find out where he is."

"You're not the first to ask," Tony said. It was true, the government had asked him countless times to try and find Captain America and the rouge Winter Soldier and he'd had no luck. He frowned, it was an odd request for her to come to him for this, surely, she had other contacts, "Why are you asking me?"

"I seem to be limited on friends at the minute," Natasha glare hardened as her frustration increased. Surely Tony had something that could help her, he was the technology expert, he would know how to track them. If only she hadn't lost contact with Clint, even his own family hadn't heard from it. It was probably for the best, both him and they were safest that way.

"Sorry about that too…"

"Even if I did know I'd have told Ross before I told you."

"Would you?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, calling his bluff, "I don't believe that."

Tony shrugged, thinking of no sarcastic comment to reply with. He was truly exhausted.

Tony heard Natasha sign angrily from the other side of the room but by the time he looked up she was already smiling at him, "I've heard you've been filling your time well – what was it, training underaged people to become superheroes? That's reckless even for you… What's with it and this Spiderman kid?"

"and I heard you've been spending your time in England… tell me is it really as rainy there as they say?" Tony wished she'd wipe that smirk off of her face, he was really starting to regret inviting her in here.

"You _have_ been tracking us."

"Not exactly, just enough to check you're all still alive."

"How sweet," Natasha grinned and although she said it stiffly, she couldn't deny she felt touched by his words. She knew he had never planned to tear the avengers apart. Getting back to the point she asked, "Where's Steve?"

"Wakanda the last I checked," Tony gave in, betrayal swimming through his voice. The panther guy had turned against him too.

Natasha narrowed her eyes, that wasn't very specific. She'd never been to Wakanda but it was still a whole country to search and Barnes and Charlotte didn't have that amount of time. Who knows where they even were now. If she could fight Hydra single handily she would, but she needed the Avengers by her side if she had any hope of winning. She doubted Tony would be happy with helping the Winter Soldier though, "I don't know specially where there but…" she could tell this was against his better judgement as Tony got up and went over to a closed draw, opening it and pulling out a flip phone. He went to hand it to her but then pulled his hand back, "How bad is the situation."

"Life and death," She admitted.

"Okay, mysterious… not gonna tell me anything more?"

"I'm not sure if you'd be up for helping me if you did know."

Tony nodded trying to judge what he should do, "More mysterious and slightly worrying."

"Please." Natasha Romanoff could count on one hand the amount of times she had pleaded in her life, normally she would try manipulative tactics to convince him but Tony was in a vulnerable state, and despite everything that had happened he was her friend, and she trusted him to make the right decision and help her.

"It's Barnes isn't it?" Tony gathered, looking up at her to try and read the spies face, "I tracked him in England too, him and Charley. That wasn't a coincidence was it."

"You really have been doing your homework," Natasha reasoned, he had known where most of them was this entire time and hadn't informed the authorities on any of it.

"I asked you a question."

"Yes." She nodded, "I know stuff has happened in the past-"

"It wasn't just _stuff_ … he killed my mum." Tony clenched his teeth together in anger. Natasha nodded understanding his fury. She only knew because Barnes talked in his sleep, one restless night he had slurred out about Howard Stark and the pieces came fitting together.

"I know," She nodded, "But that was under Hydra's control."

"he still did it."

"He's back with them," She admitted. There was no point hiding the truth from him, and reminding him that it was Hydra's fault that his parents were dead might just be the right motivator for him to help her bring them down, "him and Charlotte, I managed to get out and I'm coming to you for help. We both know how dangerous the Winter Soldier is in their clutches, and if they have Charlotte too you know they'll use her against him."

Tony considered this and the anger ebbed away from his face.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," he groaned, giving her the phone and slamming it in her palm as if he was signing away his death note, "I'm going to regret this… Steve gave me the phone, told me to ring him if I ever needed him."

Natasha smiled – not smirked – but truly smiled at the billionaire. Perhaps they could all see past this phase in the end.

For the first time in her life she pulled in to hug him, "Thank you, Tony."

Unexpected at first, he stood there awkwardly before she felt a few well-timed pats on her back, "uh- this is a first? Is it just the hair you changed or the whole personality?"

She pulled away, now eyeing the phone and Tony shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, rubbing a hand down his face, "So what now?"

"I call Steve and hope he comes to help."

"I can help," Tony said unsurely. She wasn't sure if it was because he wasn't sure if she would accept his help or if he even wanted to help at all. As far as she was concerned he had already done enough. After all the Winter Solider had torn apart his family, and orphaned him.

"You'd help Barnes?"

"Not him," he shook his head, "I'll help you and Steve though."

Natasha smirked, she knew Tony would pull through.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Curled up in a ball, Charley cradling the headache that seemed to still be banging on her skull. Two days. It had been two days since she had seen any other human life, although judging by the cameras on the wall she had no doubt in her mind that they had seen her.

Her room was dark and dingy, rocky walls enclosed on her with a simple window in the centre that was barred up, she'd already tried pulling on it with all her strength but it was no use. She knew that allowing her to see the snowy hillside landscape in the distance was just to toy with her. That the only thing separating her and freedom was the thin bars. If only she had superpowers and could blast it open or pull them off.

Off to the side of the room, behind a door was a single toilet and sink. The only non-humiliating thing about it was at least there was no cameras in there. There was no shower, however, and the dirt was beginning to stain her clothes.

From her steel bed and thin mattress, she glared up at the metal door which hadn't moved for the past two days. Not even a meal had come to her. She was starving and exhausted. The time alone was at least giving her time to think about her new-found memories, day and night. She could barely sleep. How could she sleep in a place like this? Not knowing where Bucky was or if he was safe, not knowing what was going to happen to her. Were they going to starve her? Was she going to die slowly and painfully in this dingy dark room.

Her glare hardened as she decided that no, she would not die here.

She was done with it. She had spent countless days the past months, locked up whether in her own mind or quite literally locked in a room against her will. She was through with being the weak, dependent, helpless one. For goodness sake, she could fight half as well as Natasha Romanoff could and she knew the assassin would never allow herself to be in such a situation without at least trying to escape.

What would she do? Charley thought to herself as she looked around the room. She must have something in there that she could use. She needed to get their attention.

Struck with a sudden idea, Charley bolted up straight and pulled herself up. She tried not to concentrate on her wobbly steps as she went up on tiptoes to reach the camera. With one big tug she pulled it down and let it collapse onto the floor.

"Fuck you," She said darkly, sitting back down on the shitty bed that barely had a mattress. Clicking her heels together she waited for ten minutes until the well anticipated clank of the keys being turned on the door was heard. She sat up straighter, willing herself to show no fear despite the aching beating of her heart in her chest.

The door swung open revealing the bitter face of Volkov he strutted in and leaned down in front of her. She tried not to back away as he pierced her with his predator like eyes.

"What was that for, missy?" Volkov jeered, gesturing to where the camera was supposed to be on the wall, "that wasn't very nice."

"I wanted your attention," Charley said with a quiver in her voice.

 _Stay strong,_ she told herself, confidently straightening.

"Where is Bucky?" was her first question. Even though the answer terrified her. She looked behind Volkov and saw two armed guards, their guns strapped to them, ready to pick up at a moments notice.

"The asset is on a mission."

Cringing at his choice of name for him, Charley decided to ask, "Where?"

"None of your concern."

"Tell me."

Volkov laughed and Charley lit up red, this was a dead end. What even was she trying to achieve? There was no way she was going to escape all on her own, "I like your fire but you're in no position to demand things from me."

She decided to press on, she needed to know more in the little time she had, "Has he been wiped?"

"No need too, he's being a perfect little soldier knowing we've got you here – we've promised him if he does well we'll get you a meal for tonight."

Charley let out some swear words, "You're fucking cruel, why can't you just leave him alone!"

Volkov grinned, flashing his yellow unsettling teeth that made Charley want to gag, "you think we're so cruel, neither are you are here against your own will." He jumped up, startling her, "I'll tell you what, from now on we'll leave your door open, and you can walk out whenever you want." She held on, waiting for the catch, " _but_ , we'll wipe the assets memories again and he won't be coming with you. He can leave too, but of course, we'll kill _you_ for that."

"I don't think that's exactly freedom," Charley huffed, fed up with Volkov's games. She didn't want to play. She settled for looking outside, trying to determine where they were. The snowy setting was so unnatural to her.

In the reflection of the window she saw Volkov open his mouth, not wanting to hear another word she snapped across him, "The Avengers will come."

"Doubtful," Volkov snorted, although there was a flash _of_ doubt that passed through his eyes, "They don't even know where we are."

"They took out a whole alien army and you don't think they can defeat you-"

Suddenly Volkov flew at her grabbing her face and pinching it between one hand. Gasping out of shock she tried to pull away but he just held her harder and she feared her head might explode from under the pressure.

"Don't try to frighten me, _girl_ ,"

"I don't need to _try_ ," Charley shuddered, "You already are scared."

Volkov pulled away his eyes flashing dangerously at her and the gun strapped to his guards leg and Charley thought she'd over stepped her boundary. She noticed though, that he didn't have his own weapon on him. Which was curious. If it was just him alone, she was sure she could beat him.

Uncontrollably her hand shook as he took a relieving step backwards.

 _Calm down_ , Charley stressed to herself aiming to try and control her breathing. _think, what would Natasha do in this situation._

She certainly wouldn't be panicking.

"You better be careful," Volkov growled.

"No, you better be careful," She swung around to face him, matching her glare, "I'm not going to sit and cower in this fucking room anymore, the Avengers are coming and they're going to fight you and I know Hydra isn't prepared to fight the Avengers again, not after Captain America and if any of them are coming it'll definitely be him. _I_ am going to fight you and Bucky is going to kill you because he's not your _asset_ anymore, he's a human being who has the power to make his own choices."

"Did you just pull the camera off to threaten me little girl."

"No, I broke your stupid fucking camera because I'm not a caged animal to be observed, and I got you in here to warn you. You're going to die, I promise you that," with that she spun around and flopped down on the bed, looking out the window and narrowed her eyes at her surroundings. Now she just needed to find a way to tell the Avengers where her and Bucky were. They would come, or at least Steve and Sam would. That would be enough.

Volkov didn't have anything else to say as he stepped out of her room, making a point of leaving her door open. She was free to go if she wasn't, but she wasn't going anywhere.

Two hours later a small meal of what looked like mash on a plate, telling her Bucky had completed a mission for Hydra once again.

 **A/N**

 **So so so sorry for the long update, I know it's been about two months now. I was sort of hesitant to update as I'm seeing Black Panther next week and wanted to know what was actually the next chapter in the MCU before I updated but I may have to just settle for the fact I'm going to have to go full AU from here on out.**

 **Thanks for sticking with me!**

 **Mcduffie145: Sorry, it was actually your review that got me motivated to update because the main part of this chapter has been written for months but I never got around to finishing it off, Thanks so much for sticking with me.**

 **Hkhorch: Thanks so much for the lovely long review, it made my day :D haha, I felt bad for writing her mum so negatively… in my head I feel like her mum genuinely thought she was doing the right thing to keep her kid safe but it ended up screwing them all over :/ Thank you so much again for the review!**

 **Lainiebot: sorry I've finally updated, sorry for taking so long. I hope you enjoy this chapter**

 **Dally'sTUFF: Thanks so much for the review, I'm glad you found that bit funny.**

 **StatusUpdate: That's what I was thinking when I was writing her memory loss, I didn't want it to be instant, but at the same time I didn't want to drag it out. I hope I levelled out the timing of her memory loss well, rather than dragging it out longer then necessary. Thanks so much for the compliment. I'm glad you're enjoying it and continue reading. THANKS SO MUCH! (and sorry for the long update :/)**

 **.2018: Thanks so much!**

 **Donny Donowitz: To be honest, as my updates are taking so long I'll probably be writing until Avengers Infinity War and I'll get so many more ideas once that comes out. Thanks so much, I'm sorry for taking so long and I hope you enjoy this chapter hun. Thanks for reading!**


	46. The end p1: The Summer Soldier

**Chapter 46**

Tony was originally going to make the call. However, after pacing for fifty minutes, mumbling erratically and finally collapsing onto his sofa in a pile of sweat, Pepper made the executive decision to take the phone away from him and slam it into Natasha's prepared and ready hands.

"Perhaps don't mention Tony had a panic attack trying to make the phone call to him," Pepper sighed wistfully, leaving her trust in Natasha to make the call as she joined her new fiancé on the couch. Natasha payed him no attention as she began to call the only number on the contacts list and waited patiently for the line to open. The beat of the ring played in her ears.

After a stretched moment Steve's voice came floating through the tiny device.

"Tony?" he gasped, shocked, "I wasn't expecting a call."

"It's Natasha, Steve."

At the sound of Natasha talking, Tony looked up holding a breath in.

"Oh –" Steve sounded, confused, "why have you got the phone I gave Tony – is he okay?"

"Well, technically he was meant to be the one to call you but he had a freak out and the phone was passed to me," Natasha smiled with a smirk to Tony who held up his hands in defence mouthing 'I hate you' under his breath, "We need your help."

"Tony needs my help?"

"Well – Barnes and Charlotte need your help."

Steve's tone changed immediately… into one of panic, "What? How do you know where they are? They're fine – aren't they?"

 _The deep concern was touching_ , Natasha thought, _but also distracting._

"Well – No, Steve," Natasha said plainly, there was no point sugar coating it, it would only take them longer, "hydra got to them whilst they were in England."

"how does Hydra have them?" Steve exploded, "How do you know they've been taken!"

"Calm down," Natasha soothed in her most calmest voice, "Look, I happened to meet up with them in England… that was until Hydra found out, there was a fight but I managed to get out but Barnes and Charlotte didn't. We don't know where they are but if we work together I'm sure we can take hydra down and get them back. It's nothing we haven't done before."

"Hang on – They have _Charley_ too," Natasha cringed at the stress creasing into Steve's voice.

"Yes," she almost stuttered.

"What do you think they'll do with her?"

"We shouldn't think about it that way," Natasha instantly rejected, she knew thinking about the different outcome was the worst thing to do, "let's just try and get them back."

"Okay…" Steve stalled, "and Tony's helping?"

Natasha peered over at Tony who had gotten up and was pacing again, he kept peering out of the corner of his eyes over at the phone. Pepper had already left the room so there was no one left to distract him… well, that wasn't strictly true, as Natasha could hear F.R.I.D.A.Y. attempting to calm her creator down… something about his heart-rate being unhealthy for his body.

"Maybe you should talk to him yourself," Natasha pulled the phone away from her ear before Steve could reply and pushed the phone in Tony's rigid hands.

" _Romanoff_!" Tony wined like a child but Natasha forced the phone to him.

"kiss and make-up," Natasha demanded and Tony reluctantly put the phone to his ear.

An awkward moment passed before both boys at either end of the phone began to splutter out an apology.

"Listen Steve, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did-"

"Tony, I never meant to hurt you the way I did-"

"We should have stuck together-"

"I understand why you wanted to go through with the accords-"

"I get it, you felt like your freedom was restricted with the accords-"

"I just thought not telling you about your parents would spare you the hurt-"

"Barnes was brainwashed, it wasn't your fault."

"Are you boys done?" a frustrated Natasha yanked the phone from Tony to yell through it, "We have a situation here." Although she couldn't resist smirking as F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced to the room that Tony's heart was now at a healthy rate.

 _~*It started with Pizza~*_

Bucky always had a routine before going out on a mission. It was always the same. No matter what country he was in, or what time, or who his target was. He would never stray from his routine.

It could be assumed taking out the target he'd been given would naturally be the hardest part of his mission… it was not. Though he mastered it smoothly, the hardest part was not being seen. It wasn't easy being the Winter Soldier. To never be caught on CCTV, to avoid everyone's peering eyes. It was distinct planning that made it easier.

He would know exactly where every camera was, where the busiest places were… and the quietest. His whole route was planned from the beginning, even to the timings.

Now, he was making an effort to not concern himself over things like that. He knew where the cameras were, and he'd make a point to make his route towards them. The busiest places were usually where he'd find himself walking across the building tops, letting the glint of his arm be seen in plain sight, if only someone would look up.

It was odd to be out on a mission and not having his route planned perfectly in his head. He just hoped his sloppiness wouldn't be caught on by Hydra. He _did_ hope his sloppiness would be caught by the Avengers.

He glared as he passed a telephone box. If he knew Hydra wasn't monitoring him, he'd risk calling Steve… but he couldn't, not with Charley in their clutches. He'd have to do this carefully.

He climbed up the fire-escape that he knew was opposite the building where his target was. He wasn't really sure who his target was, just a faint picture Hydra had given him and a name. It was better to not find personal detail about him, especially in a sane mind where there was no brain-washing involved, he knew what he was doing was unforgivable and wrong. The man would be someone's husband, someone's father, someone's son… and if not, he was still _someone_. No one deserved this.

For Charley. He told himself. He needed to do this for her.

He readied his sniper – it had always been his favourite weapon – and lined up the shot, following the man he recognized from the black and white picture, carefully on the scope of his sniper. It had been ages since he's used a sniper. He'd missed it. It was a gift that Hydra hadn't granted him, but a talent he'd acquired all on his own during the war… when he was sergeant James Barnes.

When the man came to a stop in his pace, simply to glance at his phone, unaware that a sniper was pointed at him, not knowing these few seconds would be his last – Bucky tried hard not to think about it – his finger squeezed on the trigger and a moment later the shot was taken, a splatter of glass sprayed everywhere through the window and the sniper bullet found its way into the targets skull.

Bucky jumped up and quickly left the way he'd come, clambering down the fire-escape and towards the Hydra vehicle as his escape route.

 _Mission done,_ he thought to himself, hating himself a bit more with every step he took. A commotion of screams came from where the bullet had found the man's skull.

 _For Charley._

~*It started with Pizza~*

As a reward for completing three missions in a row now - without a single mistake – Volkov _kindly_ allowed him to see Charley. Just once, for a set number of minutes. Bucky tried desperately not to glare at his old handler, all the death he had caused in the last few weeks and the only person he wanted to kill was right there in front of him.

All his frustration and anger, however, slipped away when the door clicked open at the opposite side of the room and Charley appeared through the door.

Her hair was a tangled mess, but she'd managed to tame it just enough to pull it back into a knotted pony tail, at least to keep it out of her face.

She could look worse, Bucky assessed, watching as she kept her head high as she stumbled forward. He winced with each step she took. She was tired.

No bruises, he assessed, at least not on her face. Maybe Hydra was keeping with their promise.

Volkov watched the two, Bucky wasn't sure what the man had been expecting but Bucky had been trained for years to pretend he felt nothing. A lifetime of training in fact. keeping his eye trained on Charley but remaining neutral. She narrowed her eyes at him and Bucky knew what questions was going through her head, he looked like the perfect assassin again. Emotionless. He was even dressed in his usual winter soldier outfit. He couldn't blame her for thinking those things.

"Well, I guess we'll leave you two to it," Volkov clapped his hands together after a painful minute of awkward silence, "I'll give you five minutes and not a second more."

Volkov slowly peered out, walking backwards as he never let his eyes drift from Charley or Bucky. Bucky knew he was just going to go to a separate room and listen through the cameras to their conversation. This was what they did. Mind-games. Hydra had kept them separated for a reason, and they were bringing them together… for a reason. A false sense of security perhaps… he wasn't sure?

"What is going on?" Charley leapt forwards as soon as the door closed, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he hurried over his words, he only had a certain amount of time, "we can't discuss much here, you know that right?"

"uh- yeah… course, they're listening," She wacked herself with the palm of her hand on the forehead as if she'd just said the most obvious thing in the world, "I'm sorry, I've not really had anyone to talk too."

"I know- I know," Bucky hushed as she stumbled over her words in a panic. Being isolated was the worst of it all. Slowly they drew closer together but Bucky was still wary of the cameras. _These_ were the types of cameras he preferred to avoid, "Just try to stay strong."

"I'm trying," She gave half a laugh, "I just- this isn't forever right?" She eyed the camera in the corner and moved so she wasn't in direct view of it and mumbled, "You're thinking of a way to get out, right?" Bucky knew it didn't matter that she had whispered it, Hydra would have heard, they'd probably bugged Charley's clothes itself.

Nevertheless he replied, but he knew it wasn't going to ease her mind "It took me sixty years to escape their clutches last time and that was only because Hydra literally fell apart."

"I don't have sixty years, Bucky!" Charley stressed, getting panicky again. He rested an arm on her shoulder to try and calm her, it wasn't much, he wanted desperately to hold her and kiss away her problems but he couldn't. not here.

"I know," Bucky said.

"Last time Steve didn't know you were alive, he does now… they'll look for us and – Natasha-" she kept talking, reeling off possible solutions. Bucky should have stopped her, but he suspected Hydra already knew all of these outcomes and had planned against them. It all honesty he missed her ramblings, "they'll get us – sorry, I shouldn't be talking out loud. Ah!"

The days in isolation had taken their toll on Charley. He noted how her eyes had sunk in more, leaving dark circles that made her look like she hadn't slept in weeks, she was thinner and not in a healthy way but more as if she hadn't been consuming any meals. Bucky doubted Hydra were feeding her well, just enough to keep her alive. The way she hung herself too, too tired to hold herself up straight.

"How's your memories coming along?" Focus on something positive, he thought to himself.

"Good," Charley nodded satisfied, a broken smile wormed its way onto her face, "with all the time in the world I tend to think about all the memories I have with you and the other Avengers a lot. It's a nice way to keep myself sane."

"That's good… keeping yourself sane, maybe I should try that sometime."

"You should," Charley nodded with a trace of a smirk, "maybe people wouldn't keep blaming you for murders if you stayed sane."

Despite the morbid humour, Bucky laughed along, finding it felt good to smile. At first he it hurt his face, and his smile became strained, but he didn't drop it… not knowing when he was going to get the chance to laugh again.

"Maybe I should write a formal letter of complaint to Hydra, asking for my sanity back."

She chuckled, "I think their complaints letters are already piling over. Starting with my own."

Bucky laughed but it dried up quickly, as he reflected on the reality of their situation. Unless Natasha hurried up they were stuck there. He assessed the cameras again, the one-way mirror. The room had two doors, one at either end… both, most likely, secured by guards and there was only one entrance to the whole facility.

Could he take them out?

Maybe if he got a gun.

But he needed Charley to be with him, he couldn't have her in Hydra's hands if he did try to escape. She was capable enough to hand herself in a fight… although perhaps not to this scale.

He was with her now, could he just grab her hand and run for it? Would they make it?

Just as his hand went out to reach for her hand, the door opened behind Charley. Quickly he pulled away in shock. Charley noticed the bizarre hand movement and frowned at him.

"Just promise me one last thing," Bucky leant in closer so only Charley could hear him. The Hydra guards footsteps were quickly closing in, "please just survive. I don't care how, I don't care what you have to do."

She tensed as one of the guards placed a cold hand on her shoulder, and gave her a tug to step back. She glared to her left where Volkov strutted in, twisting a gun coyly in his hand to try and scare them.

She nodded, "you too."

"promise."

They pulled her from the room before they could speak another word. The door welded shut behind her and the last thing she saw was Bucky being taken to the opposite door. She wanted to struggle, her eyes watered. This was it. They were going to torture the two of them with these rare meet ups. She wasn't sure when the next time she was going to see his beautiful eyes again.

"You're in luck asset," Volkov leered next to her.

Frowning, Charely looked around the room. The only person they called asset was Bucky. Was he still here? She was sure she had just seen him be left behind in the other room. She was shocked, however, to see his eyes still lingering coldly on her.

"A-asset?" she dared to speak.

"That's right, my asset," he grinned, flashing his yellow teeth wildly, "My bosses have told you to inform you they've decided to enlist you as the single candidate for the summer solider programme... you begin training tomorrow"

Summer soldier… Her mind exploded with a million questions, as she tried to process each of them, her mouth quivering in an attempt to get one of them out but the only thing that managed to escape her lips was a belting "What the fuck!" as she was shoved back into her room.

Promptly the door was shut in her face and she was left alone in silence.

She did notice, however, that they had installed a new security camera in her room.

 **A/N**

 **quadalupe1992: Thank you!**

 **Bittersweet256: I do love Natasha and Charley's relationship, when I'm done with the fic I might include more chapters of Charley's time at the Avengers base to show hers and Natasha relationship progressing. I think it'd be really sweet. Falcon's gonna show up soon too (maybe next chapter). I'm not sure about Clint, more because I'm not sure where he would have gone after Civil War, I don't think he would have gone to Wakanda with Steve and Bucky because of his family. I'm not sure.**

 **Mcduffie145: Sorry, I know this update took so long! Please don't hate me. Omg I love that fic so much, Peter and Emma are 100% my favourite fanfiction couple. I actually made a fanvideo trailer for the story on my youtube channel because I love it so much! I'm so happy that the author's got such a huge following for her fic because it's so well deserved. She puts so much effort and thought into her story.**

 **.2018: Thanks so much hun! X**

 **Glagla60800: omg, you're completely right, haha, how did I not even notice. Thank you for letting me know I've changed it to Friday in this chapter, I'll go back at some point and swap it in the previous chapters soon too :D**

 **Lovingvamp346: haha, I've not actually officially decided how I'm going to finish her parents storylines, I think in my head, her mum believed she was doing the right thing to keep her child safe even if overall she didn't understand the fall picture and ended up making things ten times worse. So glad you enjoyed! And so sorry for the long update, hope you like this chapter!**

 **Elliot Locksley: yay, happy birthday from the 8** **th** **February (sorry for the long update :/) Did you have a good birthday? hope you enjoy the chappy hun! xxx**


	47. The end p2: The Russian lesson

**Chapter 47**

Charley was dragged to the training centre, where she had been taken every day for the past week. She'd memorized the route off by heart, and had observed every nook and cranny in which she could possibly escape from (not that she would without Bucky being beside her… that's where Hydra had them both). They would tease her every night by leaving her door open, it was frustrating, knowing she could leave at any point.

She was sick of their mind tricks.

The mind tricks were the worst of it. Every time they dragged her from her room, she was terrified they'd take her in another direction. To the room with the dreaded chair. She still didn't understand what the whole concept of this Summer Soldier deal was (and she was too frightened to ask). They had yet to take her in that route though, and she doubted they would. Bucky was enough, she didn't need to go through losing her memories again. Her memories with Bucky was the reason she was staying put.

"Morning Solider," Said Charley's SO. Agent 15 was the only name Charley had been given, although in her head she had been calling her Susan, to make her seem less intimidating (despite the thick accent not fitting that name at all). Although, rather than the stern jaw and upright stance, Agent 15 was one of the nicer people here. She offered Charley a smile whenever she saw her, and although she spent most of the day training Charley up, she suspected she was going easy on her.

"Morning," Charley greeted, eyeing the room suspiciously. Sometimes there was often a hint of what they would be doing today. She spotted some books in the far corner, "Are we sparring today, Agent?" She had learnt pretty quickly to address people by their correct title.

Agent 15 nodded to the guards who had dragged her here, indicating for them to leave. As soon as they shut the door behind them, Agent 15's shoulders slumped slightly and she offered a warmer smile.

"No, I'm afraid today we'll be starting on the more knowledge side."

Relieved she wouldn't be getting her arse kicked; Charley took a seat as Agent 15 brought over the books in a box.

"You'll be starting by learning the language of Russian."

"Okay…" she stared nervously at the books, flashing back to school when she had to attempt to learn a language which she pretty much sucked at, "I don't have a time limit to learn this do I?"

"Well…" Agent 15 cringed sympathetically, "Hydra likes efficiency, you might be able to prove your worth to them if you're able to learn the language quicker."

"Screw this place," Charley growled, she had no fear of saying this in front of Agent 15. She never scolded her, infact she only seemed to be there to train her. Telling her off was the guard's job.

"Don't let them hear you say that too loudly," Agent 15 looked up worryingly to the door but looked down again when she realised no one was looking. She bowed down to Charley's level, "I'll try to help you the best I can but Russian isn't my strong suit."

"I have to learn this on my own…" Charley flicked through the book finding it filled with strange words that she couldn't even begin to guess how to pronounce, "And I thought you were Russian." She looked up at Agent 15 whose accent she had thought was Russian.

"Portuguese, I'm afraid" Agent 15 corrected.

"Oh, sorry, I'm terrible at distinguishing accents."

"That's okay."

"You're a long way from home," Charley assessed, trying to dig deeper into this woman's past. It would be nice to have an ally in a place like this.

"So are you," She shrugged in reply, "We probably shouldn't talk about this in here."

"Probably," Charley agreed, there was a single camera in the corner of the room and Charley glared at it. Nevertheless she turned to Agent 15 and tried again, this time raising an eyebrow, "Where else are we going to talk about it though?"

"Don't get confident," Agent 15 said with a hint of a smile, "Just start looking through your books, apparently they're getting someone in to help you so you won't be completely alone."

"Wonderful, another Hydra agent for me to hate."

"I'm a Hydra Agent," Agent 15 said.

"Yeah, I suppose you are," Charley shrugged, "But you don't treat me like a weapon."

"I am meant too," Agent 15 replied, "Do you want me to start?"

"Please don't."

It was this type of banterous conversation between her and Agent 15 that kept things lively at the Hydra base, there wasn't much to look forward too but her daily meetings with this mysterious woman kept things interesting.

A silence settled between them as Charley flicked through her books and Agent 15 stood upright, keeping her hands tight behind her back and eyes on Charley. It was the stern image that Charley had first been afraid of, but it was only after a few session she noticed this image was purely for the cameras amusement and she wasn't as horrid as she seemed. She was the same age as Charley, too young to be in this profession… although Charley couldn't really say much considering she was young and training to be an assassin (against her will, she might add).

She realised she'd been so deep in thought she hadn't even began to read the first page.

"They really picked the wrong person to be this summer solider thing," Charley grumbled under her breath, it was times like these she was glad she had someone like Agent 15 next to her. It meant she could say her sarcastic comments out loud, "I day dream way too much."

"To be honest, same, it is rather boring in this facility."

"Glad you can relate."

Charley went back to the book and began to attempt at mumbling some of the phrases under her breath, she had no idea if she was doing it right. She was stopped mid thought when the buzz of the alarm door went off, signally someone was about to come through. Charley picked up the book hastily and began reading it more intently than before, she knew if Hydra saw her 'slacking' she'd get punished.

What she wasn't expecting was to look up and see Bucky staring at her.

"Buck?" Heart in throat, Charley got up from her chair. She hadn't seen him in two weeks, since their last five minute meeting.

Their reunion was short lived as Volkov stepped out behind Bucky, a sneering look upon his face.

"The Winter Solider has been assigned the role of teaching you how to speak Russian, you'll be meeting once everyday for an hour and I expect to see excellent progress at the end of every day otherwise there will be consequences. Agent 15, your services are no longer necessary here for today."

Agent 15 didn't spare a glance in Charley's direction as she collected her bag and left the room with haste. Everyone else left too, shortly after.

"You're looking better than the last time I saw you," Bucky said, having assessed her appearance, though there was a few bruises sporting around her face they didn't look terrible and with the placement of them he figured they were from sparring matches, "there's at least colour in your cheeks."

"I started doing as I was told," She half whispered, ashamed she was actually doing what Hydra told her. Just to keep alive, just to keep Bucky alive.

"I'm sorry," Bucky looked down shamefully, Charley noticed he hadn't looked her in the eye properly since he'd walked in, "you're only here because of me."

"It's not all bad, I think I've made a friend in Agent 15."

This made Bucky look up and narrow his eyes, "Don't trust her."

"Wh-what? Why? Do you know something…" part of her was just curious to know stuff about the woman; she was so mysterious about herself. The other half was worried she'd been fooled into liking a Hydra agent.

"No I know nothing about her," Bucky said quickly, "But don't trust anyone in this building. They're all liars."

"I don't think Agent 15 is, maybe she's like us… forced to be here against her will."

"You see too much good in everyone."

"Because there is good in everyone."

Bucky sighed, "how are you still surviving here."

"hm," Charley glared at him from the corner of her eye, not impressed by his attitude. She knew it was just as frustrating as it was for her to be stuck in here with no way of escape, but Charley knew it wouldn't be for long. The Avengers would be here soon. She was sure. Natasha wouldn't have just left them. The only reason she was going along with the whole Summer Soldier thing was because she knew it was only temporary.

They would get out. She was sure of it.

"Anyway, you're meant to be teaching me Russian," Charley passes her book to him, glad she could finally be around someone she felt relaxed around and didn't have to worry about being beaten to death if she said or did something wrong, "Where the hell do I start."

Bucky took a deep breath but picked up the book nevertheless, "this book is useless."

"Well then what do I do, how do I learn?"

"You know they're only mocking us right," Bucky mumbled, now absently flicking through the pages. She didn't know why, he knew the language fluently, right?

"Well – yeah, I guess," She reasoned, "Or maybe they genuinely think you're the best person to teach me, you're probably the only one here who knows English and Russian equally well – and I don't care if they're mocking us, I'll get to see you for an hour a day now."

"It won't be every day; they're sending me on another mission tonight."

That was a question she'd been meaning to ask but too scared to know the answer for, Bucky she didn't mind asking.

"Do you think they'll be sending me on any missions anytime soon?"

Bucky looked up, "No, no, not soon, not until you're ready and they're sure you can handle yourself. At the moment you're only here as leverage against me, they won't send you out on the field and risk losing you. They're training you up for when they no longer have me."

She gulped, she didn't want to think about losing Bucky anytime soon.

"ah, right…"

Silence settled between them and she knew they should really get started on the Russian lesson but for now she relished in the simple pleasure of being in his company again. If it wasn't for being in a cold metal tinned basement, she could almost pretend she was home again.

"What kind of name even is the Summer Solider," Bucky joked and Charley found a smile showcased immediately on her face, she hadn't heard Bucky make a joke like that for months.

"I know right, it's not very intimidating," Charley laughed, "do you want to swap, I think Summer suits you much better."

"At least they didn't go with the Spring Soldier."

"No, that's their next recruitment," Charley giggled, "They bring flowers to all their victims."

Bucky barked a hearty laugh, throwing his head back. She was pleased, she knew he kept as emotionless as possible around Hydra, it had taken her months to break through the cold exterior of Bucky Barnes, but she was glad a laugh could still grace his face because of her, even in a place as evil as they were.

"I miss you," She sobered moments later, too much laughter could get them in trouble.

"You too doll-face."

They spend the next fifty minutes trying to learn Russian, which proved to be a harder mission for Bucky than expected as Charley would try to talk about something else at the earliest opportunity. Eventually she caught onto a few phrases but it wasn't anything she'd probably remember.

It was half way through the lesson however, when Charley and Bucky were sitting opposite each other when she felt Bucky touching her leg. At first she was confused, she looked up at his and question what he was doing, but he was intensely looking down at her books, only once shooting her a warning look not to say anything. It took her about a minute to work out he was trying to spell something out for her on her leg, as he kept repeating the movement on his fingers, tracing the words with his metal arm. He continued for another minute or two before Charley final caught on to what he was saying, it was difficult to understand at first, trying to read by not looking but feeling what he was tracing.

Eventually she gave a quick nod to tell him she understood what he had tried to tell her.

' _I have a plan.'_

It wasn't a lot, and didn't tell her much, but it at least gave her the reassurance she needed.

"Where is your mission tonight?" She asked conversationally as she realised they'd been sitting in silence for quite some time and it probably looked suspicious to the people looking in.

"Probably can't say…"

She gave a curt nod, glaring at the camera in the corner for causing them to become so secretive. She hated this so much.

At the end of the hour they both felt they weren't allowed to show physical affection so settled for a nod of the head to say goodbye. It was cruel and despite being in the same building, Charley had never felt so distant. Even with her memory loss.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Tony Stark was never one to shy away from attention. He liked to make things his own, take stage whenever he entered the room. So everyone was surprised when Tony shrunk back a little after entering Wakanda. Being in the middle of royalty wasn't like being in the middle of a press conference surrounded by snooty journalists. He couldn't own the stage here.

Plus, he couldn't help but feel a little bit betrayed by everyone he was surrounded by. He really had lost the battle at the airport. Both Natasha and T'challa had double crossed him, and he'd almost lost one of his best friends (despite being okay-ish).

But he didn't trust anyone who _hadn't_ double crossed him, to come to Wakanda... or even tell them what he was doing. Rhodey was still in recovery, Vision was far too eager for the accords to come help Cap out, and Spidey was too young to bring into all of this.

The only person he told, he was coming was Pepper. Though she was upset that he was so readily going against the accords and helping his old friend out, she seemed to understand his reasoning's. Tony knew she was just glad he was finally telling her things.

"So what have we got?" Tony asked, announcing himself as he entered the room where the technology was almost even beyond his understanding. And there was he was thinking he had the most technological advance stuff on the planet. Shuri, T'challa's sister, had tried explaining some of it to him but it didn't exactly sit well with him being lectured by a 16 year old girl about technology… which was meant to be his area of expertise.

Although he couldn't help his ego being inflated after she complimented his iron man suit – until she started going on about certain updates that could be made.

"Nothing knew," Shuri said to everyone, not sparing a glance up as he came and sat down by Natasha who was typing something relatively fast on her phone, Tony spared a peak surprised the spy was letting him see so easily and caught she was texting Steve.

"Nothing since you found that CCTV footage," Natasha frowned, "but Steve and Sam are at where the shooting happened now, they might pick up on something. They reckon the shot was definitely fired by Barnes, judging by style."

"So are we reckoning Barnes has been all brainwashed and controlled again?" when no one said anything , Tony sighed, "Brilliant." He tried not to think about his parent, but they were a pressing thought as of recently. If Barnes was brainwashed again, he could be killing other families. He tried to remember what Steve had told him, to keep his anger in check… Barnes had no control over his actions.

"Not necessarily," Shuri shrugged, "if the CCTV footage you found is any indication, I'd say he's trying to leave us a trail. Why else would the winter soldier be plainly showing his face."

"That's true," Natasha remarked, finally putting her phone down, "The Winter Soldier has been around for decades and he's barely been seen on CCTV…" She gave a side look to Tony who he knew she was thinking about his parent's deaths and how he found out, "He's still Barnes alright."

"Then why did he shoot that guy?" Tony shrugged, just to put it out there, "doesn't sound very sane to me."

"They have Charlotte too, they're probably using her as motivation – If I hadn't of gotten away they'd have me too," Natasha shrugged, before a trouble look passed over her face "I just wish I'd have had enough time to put a tracker on Charlotte- Wait…" Natasha hurriedly went back to her phone and Tony sat straighter in his seat, "There's been another shooting – Tony, Shuri, check for CCTV footage from this location."

She sent the information over and Tony saw, this time; it was a Russian politician who had been killed in the safety of his own home.

"Steve and Sam are heading there now, if they get there quick enough there might be more tracks we can pick up."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Bucky picked up his sniper, guilt stopping him from looking back through it at the victim he'd just killed in cold blood. Again, he refrained from looking at the details of his targets, knowing that if he knew too much, it would make it ten times harder to complete the mission… but judging from the swing set and slide in the back garden, he could easily assume kids lived here.

Looking around one more time to check he was quite alone (like he was on most missions), Bucky used his knife to being carving into the stone wall he'd been resting his sniper on. He'd have to be quick, or Hydra would get suspicious. However, when he heard a sharp scream indicating someone had found the body, Bucky knew his time was up.

He only had two more digits of the Hydra base coordinates to write. Debating whether or not to risk it, he growled in defiance and picked up his sniper before running off, leaving the coordinates unfinished. He'd have to be quicker next time.

 **A/N updating, honestly I haven't even read this back. I just wanted to update. Just to let you guys know, I lied, there's going to be a few more chapters. I sort of kept coming up with ideas. Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, I know I'm annoying.**

 **I'm only writing this for you guys, my lovely reviewers and readers. No one else. So thank you for the continued support. Please let me know what you think.**

 **A quick thank you to ChelsieLynn, Vertigo Venom, .2018,guadalupe1992, Bittersweet256 and Mcduffie145 and especially hkhorch who without your lovely long and thoughtful review I wouldn't have gotten my arse moving to write this chapter so thank you!**

 **Just to to finish as I had one review saying they weren't going to continue reading anymore if Charley got brainwashed... which is fine, you can stop reading whenever but she won't be getting brainwashed! i can assure you of that.**


	48. The end p3: First Mission

Chapter 48:

"All I'm saying is, maybe he doesn't want to be found," Sam remarked as Steve and him investigated another lead that Natasha had linked them too, "we've tried looking him before when he didn't want to be found and this is feeling very similar to that time."

This time they found themselves at another high-profile victim. It was more difficult to move around here, and they had to get Tony to pull a few strings to allow them to examine the scene for themselves as before they were turned away immediately. It wasn't ideal, as having Tony make a few calls meant making more people aware of where they were. They couldn't risk Hydra finding out what they were doing.

Steve glanced momentarily at the swing set. He could see the kid and wife in the distance, the mother holding her kids tightly whilst an officer tried to calm them.

"Why would Buck want to be under the control of Hydra again?" Steve raised an eyebrow to question Sam's theory who only shrugged in response.

"I don't know, maybe he's brainwashed again."

"He wouldn't be leaving clues and hints if not," Steve reasoned, "plus, they've got Charley."

Seeing his point, Sam let it go as Steve called Natasha, placing comms in his ear as it allowed him to be hand free. They searched the grounds as they waited for her to pick up. A moment later Natasha's voice came through the comms.

"What have you found?" Natasha asked, Steve could still hear Tony and Shuri arguing in the background. It seemed every time Steve called up the two were arguing over something.

"Look I'm the clear adult here," Tony yelled out loudly followed by the sound of electricity sizzling and failing, "Well – that wasn't meant to happen."

"you broke it!" Shrui interrupted Tony as he began to speak in monologue about what could have possibly have gone wrong, "It's my lab!"

"just ignore them," Natasha finally said, "they've not shut up in days – where are you at?"

"Well we've looked around, other than it being a clear murder it doesn't look like Hydra was involved in this one."

"hang on, let me just…" There was a pause from the other end of the phone and all Steve could hear was the tapping of a keyboard. She was gone for a minute or two and Steve was beginning to get frustrated, he should have face… called her? (whatever it was called, Steve could never remember) but he didn't know how to do it. "okay, I've got police reports up, judging by the shot and distance it'd have had to have been on a high building… to the west?"

Steve looked around and saw only one building close by that was taller than the actual house.

"Thanks Romanoff, we'll go look up there."

It was easy enough trying to find a route to the roof as Sam quickly found a fire escape ladder around the side. They pulled themselves up onto it only to find an empty roof.

"There's nothing up here." Steve assessed, trying to find a trace of something his friend might have left behind.

"Just keep looking," Natasha prompted in his ear.

"okay… Just keep looking," Steve breathed nervously, close to wanting to give up now but the drive to find his best friends kept him going.

Sam and him began from either side of the roof. It was Sam that first noticed the scuff marks on the floor where someone had to have been kneeling for a period of time. Steve quickly abandoned his side of the roof to go investigate Sam's, half wondering if Sam was just trying to come up with something in order to keep Steve in higher spirits.

"The wind could have made these marks," Steve shrugged, "we're wasting our time up here, Hydra isn't sloppy enough to just leave stuff lying about in the scene of the crime."

Steve turned to leave but something caught Sam's eye.

"No, not unless they wanted to be sloppy… hey, come look at this."

With little optimism, Steve groaned but turned around anyway to see what else his friend could come up with that gave the smallest hint to what Bucky could have been doing up here, "it's probably nothing Sam."

"This doesn't look like nothing," Sam rejected beckoning Steve to crouch down next to him, "These look like un-complete coordinates."

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

Hit, punch, block. It was like a choreographed sequence as Charley started to read agent 15's movements meant. If she stepped with her left leg it usually meant she was about to attack with her right arm... and so on. Of course (as she was reminded plenty of times by her SO) just because she could read her fighting style, doesn't mean she could read everyone's.

At the end of their session there was always a ten minute gap between sparring and her beginning her Russian lesson where her only friend in the base would leave. Agent 15 would usually fill by packing her things away, but Charley took the time to learn as much as she could about the Agent, knowing it was their only time to talk.

"What's with the number fifteen?" Charley asked, and Agent 15 jumped at the spark of conversation as they'd be quite beforehand.

"Oh- I don't know, it's just the number they gave me."

"What's you're real name?" Charley dared to ask, she was the only person in this entire base she'd actually ask. For one, she might get a straight answer out of her and two, she knew that she wouldn't be punished for asking questions she didn't need to know.

"I couldn't tell you that," she replied, making a point of not looking over at Charley.

"come on, give us a hint." She couldn't lie, she was bored out of her mind and there was only so much Russian, fighting techniques and political information Charley could intake before her mind exploded from boredom. It was why she usually liked her sessions with Agent 15 because she offered the occasional banterers conversation that Charley was so desperately craving, "What does it begin with."

"it begins with an A," she answered within a heartbeat, surprising Charley who had expected to give up more of a fight.

"really? Okay – let me guess, just smile if I get it right… Alice? Agatha? Ally? – wait no they're British names, let me think more out of the box…" She continued to reel off more names and Agent 15's straight face didn't falter, "Oh come on! I must have got at least one of them right!" Charley exclaimed five minutes later, eyeing the clock dangerously as she noticed it was only another two minutes until she'd see Bucky again for her Russian lesson.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" Agent 15 sighed, throwing her rucksack over her shoulder, now full of boxing gloves and fitness clothes. Charley nodded enthusiastically, so fast she thought she might have pulled a muscle in the back of her neck, "Agent."

"Wha- what?"

"My first names Agent and my last name's fifteen, that's all you need to know."

"ugh, spoil-sport," Charley scowled, not mad however, she should have known better than to expect a straight answer out of the mysterious agent. She wasn't even sure if she'd ever told her an inch of truth, but she trusted her for some reason. It was annoying to think that the agent knew so much about Charley but she knew nothing about her. She was a Hydra agent and that was all she knew, but she couldn't believe someone like Agent fifteen shared the same beliefs as Hydra. She at least treated her like a human being unlike all the other agents.

"They'll be here in a second, so get prepared," Agent fifteen warned and Charley quickly searched for her Russian stuff. She was honestly terrible at Russian, she was barely able to put together a sentence. Perhaps it was the fact she was constantly being distracted by Bucky. Being so near to him felt like a luxury all on its own, listening to him talk Russian was just plain hot. It was so hard to concentrate.

Not a moment later did the doors open and entered Bucky. Charley smiled briefly but it fell instantly as soon as she saw Volkov enter behind. His shark like snarl found Charley immediately. As they stepped into the room, Charley instinctively retreated back but stopped mid-step realizing this was everything Hydra had taught her against doing. Showing weakness was the worst thing to do. So she gathered up her remaining courage and stepped forward.

Volkov sized her up, "It's time to review what you've learnt."

Charley eyed a look to Bucky, suddenly becoming nervous. If he asked her anything in Russian she'd still be clueless.

"Um… sure," She nodded, trying to seem confident but her false façade was easily seen through by Volkov who took a leering step forward.

"Try to take me down then."

She looked to Bucky again for confirmation but he was little to no help as he only gave a nod of the head. She supposed there wasn't much he could do to give her advice. They were both as trapped as each other.

She took the first swing which Volkov easily dodged. At the start he didn't attempt to attack her back but dodged her futile attempts. Volkov was quick on his feet, she understood now why he was the one to train the great Winter Solider. Eventually, she realised her fists would not be enough as they were beginning to ache from constant whacking and missing.

She attempted at using moves Natasha had taught her, using the table as a balance and kicking her legs out at his chest, but he knocked her aside as if she was nothing but a feather and she collapsed onto the floor in a heap. Huffing, she forced herself on her feet despite her ribs screaming at her to stay down. Volkov wanted her to stay down, to prove she was weak and push her further beyond her limits. She felt like they couldn't push her any further, she was already close to going back to her room at the end of the day and crying into her pillow every night. The only thinking stopping her was she knew she'd be punished for showing weakness.

"Get up!" Volkov screamed at her, despite her already on her way onto her feet.

This time she tried applying something Bucky had taught her and with all her forced kicked her knee at his chest. He simply jumped back, grabbed her knee and flipped her. She was nothing to him, and she was beginning to feel more stupid by the minute.

She crashed to the floor again, her head colliding first.

"Ah!" She let out as a splitting pain slashed through her head. The beating of her skull made her unaware of Volkov's fist suddenly flying at the other side of her face and he beat her head into the ground again.

The ground was shaking as she tired to get up, holding onto the nearest thing which happened to be Agent 15's arm for support. Somehow she managed to get to her feet, Volkov's image doubling in her blurry vision. Fisting her hands to chose one to aim for and fired her fist at it, it fell short as she didn't hit anything but cold air.

Vokov sharply grabbed her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"And they're expecting to make you part of our new summer soldier programme, they're crazy if they think I can train a pathetic weak little girl like you," Volkov sneered, too close for comfort. She could smell the stench of fish on his breath.

"Maybe I wasn't cut out for it then," Charley growled angrily, spitting out a lump of blood. She didn't care that he was glaring at her hatefully, his balls curling up into a fist. His knuckled covered with her blood. How dare he act like she was the failure when she never signed up for this, how dare he assume she should be able to take him down when he knew she wasn't strong enough, smart enough to do it. He was just doing this to humiliate her.

"Charley… don't," Bucky started, his sentence left unfinished as Volkov shut him up with a sharp 'quite, asset'.

"Are you saying you believe you are not of use to Hydra."

"I guess I am," Charley chocked, feeling a lump form in her throat again. It was already hard to talk, her jaw felt unhinged and her neck bruised, "Well," she changed her mind, "I guess I am if you consider I'm a hostage to keep Bucky in check… Bucky… not asset or soldier. He has a fucking name!"

She expected it. The sharp punch to the face, she even closed her eyes to prepare for it as soon as she saw him raise his fist but nothing came, except the sound of Volkov grunting and a wooden table being crushed.

She opened her eyes as Agent 15 grabbed her arm and pulled her backwards away from the fight, just as Bucky threw Volkov again.

"You made a mistake Solider," Volkov growled as he finally stood, he wobbled on his feet clearing shaken by the sudden attack from behind.

 _Serves him right_ , Charley thought dryly, glad to see him in such a state. In her mind he deserved worse. Death would be too kind on him though. As she saw Bucky stall she was brought back to reality. He would be punished for this.

Fear swelled through her as guards rushed in to detain him. Not that there was any need as Bucky had already stopped fighting. With little struggle he was knocked to the floor. Bucky kept his eyes firmly on Charley, eyes dotting around at the bruises that had been inflicted on her face.

She didn't need him to say it, but he could tell he was trying to say he was sorry. She gave a nod to show him she understood and she forgave him. If she had to go through it all again to be stuck at his side, rather than him facing it alone, she would.

Volkov (now with the addition of a large purple bruise on his face) peered closer to Bucky, although she noticed it wasn't as close as he had gotten to her. Maybe Bucky throwing him across the room served as a reminder on who actually was the strongest between them.

"You just got yourself a week of solitary confinement asset." Bucky shrugged. Being confined alone was possibly the best situation you could get in a place like Hydra.

"But sir-" one of the guards interrupted, looking fearful to disrupt Volkov in his plans to punish Bucky, "He has a mission tonight."

"Oh right, he does," Volkov remembered. He stood up straight his eyes finding Charley's, "It looks like it's time to see what you're made of Summer Soldier. You'll be taking the Winter Soldiers mission tonight instead, seeing as it's your fault he can't do it himself in the first place."

Not expecting this Charley gaped, "What do you mean? I don't know what I'm doing…"

"I'm sure Agent 15 can fill you in on all the details. It's a simple mission. No close combat involved, you just need to take out the target."

Bile rose in her throat. She looked to Bucky for help but his face was being pushed into the floor by the guards trying to hold him down, he was suddenly kicking up much more of a struggle after what he'd just heard.

"I've never killed anyone," she argued, receiving a glare from Volkov.

"yes, well that was next on our agender to introduce you too but what better way to teach you than to throw you in at the deep end, eh?"

"She's not ready!" Bucky cried out, managing to take a breath from the floor before being shoved back down, his nose making contact with the ground with a loud crunch.

"I-I can't…" Charley began.

She couldn't kill anyone. She wasn't ready. She'd been so sure the Avengers would find them before it came to this, she thought she still had weeks, months before Hydra even considered putting her on a mission. The punches from Volkov would have been worth it to avoid this.

"please don't make me." Tears erupted in her eyes, she'd held them back for so long, not wanting to show weakness – not wanting to be punished – but this was the worst punishment they could give her. She'd done everything they asked. She'd taken part in their stupid Russian and sparring sessions. She even listed to Agent 15 drone on about political ramblings that she had no interest in. She tried (as best as she could) to keep her thought off of Bucky, to avoid distractions. She'd been forced and shoved and punched and beaten to almost death and they were still handing this to her. What else could she have done.

"I won't." She blubbered, unable to stop the tears now they had fallen.

"You are Hydra's asset. If we must we will wipe you and start your programming over again."

 _Wiping_ – no, she couldn't go through that again. Remembering who she was, was the only thing keeping her sane in here. She tried not to let more tears fall at the thought of the chair, it's electric whirring, similar to that of thunder and lighting.

Slowly, she nodded.

She would have spoken but she wasn't able to breath, she felt like she was going to choke if she didn't take a breath soon but she couldn't seem to be able too. It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. Agent 15 held out her arm for support but Charley missed it and she tumbled to the ground, unable to stand.

"get her ready," was all Volkov said to Agent 15, "after her missions we'll have to work on removing weakness like this."

Bucky was dragged out and Charley was left alone in the room with Agent 15.

"I can't do it fifteen," Charley cried. Now they were alone Charley felt no shame letting the tears slip out, "please, I can't kill someone – I don't know how. I don't… I don't…" She wanted to close her eyes, to collapse, to forget it all. Maybe if she closed her eyes she could pretend it wasn't real – maybe it _wouldn't_ be real. She could be back in her apartment with Bucky.

"You have no choice," Agent 15 snapped at her, "I'm sorry but if you don't Hydra will find another way to get through to you and you'll be doing the acts they want you to do but without your memories, against your will-"

"This is already against my will!" Charley tried to argue but Agent 15 shook her head.

"But you know who you are. If you don't do this, they'll take that away from you too."

"Maybe that's better," Charley reasoned. She wouldn't know what she was doing, if she was going to be stuck here and the Avengers weren't coming to save them then maybe it was better she didn't know what atrocious acts she was being forced to carry out.

"believe me, it isn't." Agent 15 smiled sympathetically, "My name – you asked about it – well, I can't remember it. Hydra took it from me and eventually I forgot my real name. This is the name they gave me and this is all I know – now just take deep breaths before you faint."

Charley took her advice and tried to process what fifteen had just told her. She must have been with Hydra for a long time to have forgotten her name… and here she was whinging that she'd been with them for a few weeks. She couldn't even begin to imagine the trauma she would have had to have gone through.

"Thank you," Charley attempted a smile but it fell flat, she gave up in the end, "and I'm sorry for everything Hydra has put you through."

Fifteen didn't reply but rubbed Charley's shoulder affectionately. They settled into a moment of silence and Charley knew fifteen was going to interrupt it with an explanation on what her mission would be tonight. She didn't want to hear it. There was only one person she wanted to hear it from, if she _had_ to do it.

"I need to see Bucky-"

"That's impossible, he'll be in solitary confinement by now…"

"No, I know but you could get mere there."

"Charley… I don't think I could…" fifteen frowned sympathetically, "if we were to get caught, I could lose everything."

"I know," Charley hated that she was asking this of her, but she couldn't do it alone, "but please… I don't think I can do this without seeing him first. I need to know what he thinks, he might be able to come up with a way out for me. He's- he's always got me out of situations like this."

"I don't think there is a way out."

"I need to find out!" She hadn't meant to snap but she needed to see him. She needed too.

"okay, don't get mad at me," fifteen raised her hand in defence and Charley felt a little guilty at having snapped, "there might be a way. Just give me a few minutes to sort something out."

Without another word or a line of more convincing, fifteen got up from her place on the floor with Charley and exited the room. Charley was left alone. The steel room was colder than usual. Tears erupted again and there was nothing that could stop them this time.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Twenty minutes later they were in an area of Hydra that Charley had never seen before, it was much darker and sank deeper into the depth of the ground.

"It's here," fifteen whispered, pulling Charley's arm further round a corner and out of sight as two Hydra agents turned at the top of the hallway, thankfully not noticing them "Don't worry, they won't patrol down here but just do this quickly and quietly."

Fifteen opened Bucky's door, using a key card, and with the sound of a buzz it sprung wide open to reveal a surprised Bucky.

"Buck…" Charley sprung to wrap her arms around him. He was thinner. Probably from the lack of food, she probably didn't look much better, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be worried doll," Bucky whispered soothingly into her ear. Their hug was short lived as he pulled away sharply, but kept her at arms length, "what are you doing in here? There's a camera…"

"Fifteen took care of it for us, we don't have long though."

Bucky accepted this answer, giving a nod of thanks to fifteen who was standing guard by the door.

"Don't do it."

"What?" the urgency in his voice was alarming, "the mission? What other choice do I have."

"We know Romanoff and the others will be looking for us-"

"We don't know that," Charley snapped. She'd given up home on that. What was the point in believing if it only made her feel worse when no one came.

"what happened to your optimism."

"Oh I don't know, Buck… perhaps since I've been assigned to a mission to kill someone!"

"I know, I know," Bucky pulled her in close, sensing she was close to tears again, "when you're out just run. Steve or someone will eventually find you."

"No," Charley pulled away to look him in the eye. She already missed his warmth, "I won't leave you here alone."

"I'll find a way out."

"Without me here, they'll wipe you. You'll forget who you are and you'll forget me." She wasn't going to argue with him over this. There was no way she'd leave him here to become their asset again. Not on his own. At least this way he remembered who he was. She knew from experience that forgetting yourself was the worst thing imaginable, "I'm not letting that happen to either of us ever again."

"I'll sleep well better knowing you're safe."

"But if they wipe you, you wouldn't know if I was safe. You wouldn't know anything other than what Hydra fills your head with! I'm not worth that so shut up. I didn't come here to argue over that, I came here to ask for advice. Either on how to get both of us out, or… or how the fuck I kill someone"

"you're actually going to do it?"

"I have no fucking choice do I!"

"keep your voices down," fifteen called from the door, "you'll wake the whole Hydra base."

Charley collected herself before continuing, "just help please."

He understood. He had been forced to kill people in the last few weeks as a means to protect her. Despite saying he was done with this life.

"It'll probably be a sniper shot. Just line it up, make sure your target is still… has Agent fifteen taught you how to set up a sniper?"

"y-yes," Charley struggled to remember the few lessons she had on weapons training. But she recalled something like setting up a sniper.

Why were they considering recruiting her again?

"Good – take this," from under his belt he passed her a knife, "Last few missions I've been writing the coordinates for the Hydra base. I've never had enough time to finish it."

"You want me to finish it?"

"If possible, yes," Bucky said enclosing her hand on the knife, lingering just a second for the closeness of contact, "If it's too dangerous, or you know Hydra's watching you then don't worry."

"I'll do it don't worry-"

"No," Bucky raised an eyebrow warningly, "don't worry if there's any chance of Hydra seeing you. Promise me."

Charley sighed. There were greater problems that worrying about what Hydra would do to her, they just needed to get out. If Bucky believed Steve was looking for them, that it was worth a shot.

"Okay," She agreed knowing he wouldn't let it go until she did. With nothing more about the mission to be said, Charley wrapped herself up in his arms, drawing him closer, "I miss you."

"I miss you too." He kissed the top of her head affectionately, "be careful tonight."

"What if I can't do it."

"Then don't," Bucky replied simply.

"But Hydra-"

"I won't let them do anything to you. I'll take whatever punishment comes your way…"

"Bucky! Stop it." Charley snapped, pulling away from him sharply, "You can't do what you did for me today, ever again."

Bucky opened his mouth to argue back and Charley was glad for fifteen's interruption as she didn't want to spend their few moments together arguing about something that had already come to pass.

"guys…" fifteen said, stepping away from the door and into the cell, "times up, we've only got a few minutes to get you back and ready for your mission Charley."

There time was up. Charley was just thankful she got to spend a moment with him, even if it was short lived.

"I love you so much," She said, trying to keep her voice under control.

"Same to you, doll-face."

"I hate it when you call me that," Charley mumbled under her breath.

"No, you don't." was the last thing he said before fifteen had to practically drag her out of the room. Before the door shut she could see Bucky watching her intently, his smile slowly fading. She needed to do this for him.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

It felt like a dream. A nightmare. It wasn't real, she couldn't actually be here with a sniper loaded in her arms. It was heavier than she expected, she didn't' think she would be able to hold it for much longer without the weight of it forcing her to drop it.

Hydra hadn't given her too many details, they hadn't given her a name or description just a simple picture and an address. The only advice that she'd been given came from Agent fifteen who smiled sympathetically at her and told her 'to get to a high building'. It wasn't the best advice, Charley knew that already, although in her current state of mind a lot of her training went out of the window.

Luckily fifteen had reminded her again of how to set up the sniper. It was relatively easy but something she'd forgotten from the last time she'd been taught so she was thankfully for the repeat of the lesson.

She took her time setting up the equipment, knowing that when she was done she'd have to pull the trigger. She tried not to think about it, and kept her mind somewhere else, thinking about her family and wondered what had happened to them after they'd been taken by Hydra. Had her mum been punished for conversing with Hydra agents and terrorists. Was her mum concerned about where she had gone? Or just through she'd run off with Bucky?

She didn't want to see know the disappointment her mum would feel after knowing what she was about to do.

The equipment was up and there were no more screws that Charley could tighten further to distract herself from what she was ultimately about to do. For the first time she looked up at the house.

It wasn't a rich politician house but was a simple country house. People were in, judging by the lights reflecting through the window but Charley was glad she couldn't physically see anyone yet. As soon as she did she'd have to take the shot.

Before any of that, however, she knew there was something more important she had to do. She pulled the knife Bucky had given her out of her pocket and tried not to cry at the thought of him. If she wasn't here, it would have been Bucky having to take this shot. Now she knew how he felt every time he was forced on a mission like this.

"Fuck this," Charley mumbled under her breath, trying to keep the tears at bay but her eyesight was already blurry from wet eyes. She re-positioned herself on the floor and began etching out the coordinates fifteen had made her memorize. It took her longer than expected but luckily there had been no movement from the house. She almost wished there was, if she was going to do this she wanted to get it over and done with rather than prolonging the thought that she was about to take someone's life.

A minute or two later she'd finished the coordinates and stepped back to review her work. Once or twice she went over it to make a number clearer. At least there was a positive thing to come out of this, Natasha and the others would be able to find them now. That was if they were actually looking for them.

Out of the corner of her eye, Charley saw a light switch on in the house and her heart sunk.

"Why couldn't you have just not been in," She chocked back tears, sitting straighter so she could get a better view through her sniper scope, "please just leave."

But a second later her target came into view… or maybe it was someone who just looks like her target. Charley tried to reason and looked down at the file sitting next to her which had a picture of her mission in it. Clutching the sniper tightly, a tear escaped her when the picture matched perfectly with the target.

The poor man had no idea a sniper was aimed at him. Had no idea that his life was about to come to an end. They were probably good, if Hydra was their enemy. Anyone with any human decency had Hydra as their enemy. She was about to end it all.

Her finger pulled at the trigger softly, but not hard enough to make the shot. It was lined up. She had a clear clean shot, but she was stalling.

Why was she doing this? She thought to herself. She could run, she'd given them the coordinates, she could run and tell the avengers herself and they could get Bucky out that way. He wouldn't blame her for running, the amount of times people had called her a civilian. That was what she was, she wasn't some solider or spy or assassin. She didn't know what she was doing.

Her fingers ever so gently slipped from the trigger…

Bucky.

She thought. Her heart clenching.

Hydra would wipe him. He'd been back at square one all because she was cowardly and ran.

With that in mind, she pulled the trigger.


	49. The End p4: The Simple Life

**Chapter 49**

She had never cried so hard. Her head was starting to pound from the pressure of tears she was releasing. Eventually, her legs gave way and she had to lay down and scream into her the pathetic excuse for a pillow Hydra had so graciously given her. It's not like she used the pillow to sleep anymore. A week had passed since her mission and the only time she managed to shut her eyes and find some peace was when her body physically shut her down from exhaustion.

The image of the man's body was imprinted into her mind.

She had tried keeping her eye shut after she'd taken the shot. She really had… but a scream rang out shortly after (someone must have been in the room with her target when they'd been hit) and the shock of the sudden cry forced her eyes to open. She almost screamed out herself for fear of what she'd done.

There had been so much blood.

She sat there for another five minutes, staring through the scope. She remembered not being able to move, her body physically wouldn't let her move as she was transfixed on the dead body in front of her. The dead body that she had caused.

Now, she was shunned into her room with limited contact. She assumed they were deciding on what to do with her now.

She had completed one mission for them. Probably earlier on than they had expected in her programme. Perhaps now they were planning on sending her on more missions… she dreaded the thought, the Avengers needed to get here soon. She'd written the coordinates out perfectly, why had they not come yet.

Did they even discover her secret marks? Or maybe she didn't write them down as well as she thought she did… she had been half hyperventilating at the time, it wouldn't be surprising if some letters or numbers were badly carved out.

The doubt seeded her mind.

If Steve and Natasha hadn't found the coordinates yet they never would, and if they hadn't then they wouldn't get another opportunity to let them know where they were until either Bucky or her go on another mission.

She wasn't sure she would be able to do another one. Her kill count was already high enough at one, she couldn't add to it. The guilt of it caused bile to rise up into her mouth as she suddenly got up and emptied her stomach over the side of her bed. A bucket was already set up.

 _I've got to get out of here_ , She thought suddenly, _If they send me on another mission, I won't be able to do it and Bucky will suffer because of it._

Filled with new found determination, she looked to her door, getting a sense of de-ja vu from her first attempt at getting their attention from when she first arrived.

Could she do it? Escape on her own. She'd been here for what felt like months, and knew the lay out of the building well. She now knew where the exit was, and most importantly where Bucky's room was. She would just have to get to him (perhaps even sneak there… maybe Fifteen could help her) and then they could fight their way out together.

They could do it.

She thought if she didn't get out soon then she'd be forced to do something she didn't want to do again. She'd rather die. She'd rather die than take another life.

Gathering her remaining courage that Hydra had tried so hard to remove from her, she got up and glared at the camera once more. Easily she dis-attached it from the wall, laying it on the ground.

Next, she waited until the food rounds. Since being down in this filthy base she'd picked up pretty quickly how to tell what time it was. Either by pure instinct, by the light that shone in her room or by the footsteps of the guards that made their routinely walks outside of her door. She knew exactly when their shifts would change.

She sat still on her bed, staring at the nothingness of her wall preparing her attack. There were usually no more than two of them, she'd have to dispatch them quietly and quickly to remain under the radar.

When she heard the footsteps outside she glared at the camera on the floor hatefully, she should have done this months ago.

After the two locks on her door clicked, she jumped behind the door waiting for the first guard to enter, a pitiful plate of food held in his hands. Her blood pumping fast through her body. She dived on the first guard, letting natural instincts take over as her head was too blurry to really make sense of what she was doing. There was no other choice, she thought as she tightened her grip around his neck. He stumbled backwards slamming her against the wall with a loud thump. She let out a yelp of pain as her head collided against the thick concrete.

"Fuck you," She growled, tightening her arms further and she could feel his strength slowly leaving him.

As the second guard came running to see what all the commotion was about, he eyed Charley in shock, quickly pulling out his gun.

"Let go or I'll shoot," The guard ordered nervously, his gun shaking.

Not wanting to be shot, she used the guard she was holding as cover, leaning over him so her full body was being hidden by him. The trigger was pulled but instead missed it's intended target, and hitting the guard in the shoulder. His legs gave way and Charley collapsed on the ground next to him.

The gun made a louder sound than she intended to make, so she acted quickly and jumped up as the guard tried to recover from his failed attempt at shooting and hitting his own team mate. He pulled up his gun too late as Charley knocked it out, elbowing him in the face and making him collide into the side of the door where he must have cut his head, blood following the trail of his body as he fell onto the floor.

"Shit, shit," Charley uttered to herself, diving for his gun and checking his pulse to see if he was still alive. She didn't want to kill anyone. The adrenaline from before had bubbled down in her veins and she was left in a shaken mess as she looked around at the two bodies on the floor, "Don't lose your chill now." She reminded herself, she could cry when this was all over. There was no going back now, she either stayed and dealt with the consequences of maiming these Hydra agents or she got the hell out of there.

Bucky. That's who she needed to get now.

Holding both the guns in either hand she aimed them into the air, as she abandoned her home of a month, not sparing it a glance back. That room was lonely, cold and isolated. She was glad to see the last of it.

As suspected the gun shots had caused alarm, and guards were running all over the place to try and find the source. Knowing she couldn't take them all on she ran and hit behind a container, having to put down her guns as her hands were shaking so much.

"What the fuck am I doing…" she cried to herself "W-what the actual fuck… shit…" a tear slipped down her face but she sobered immediately as a Hydra agent ran past her hiding spot. They would surly find the bodies soon.

She was going to die here. Her hiding spot wasn't very good and it would just take the right Hydra agent to slightly pear where she hid to find her. They would shoot her on sight, take her back to her room or allow Volkov to deal with her. None sound appealing. She couldn't do it again. Who was she kidding, she wasn't a super soldier… or even a soldier for that matter. She wasn't a spy or an assassin. She wasn't exceptionally clever or had an special skills. Yet they had given her the name Summer Solider.

She was just a civilian.

A civilian who loved James Buchanan Barnes a bit too much. For him she could be anything. Apparently even a killer.

"okay… one… two… three," she counted down and on the third, she stood up, looking both ways to check if it was clear. There was only one other person at the top of the hallway but they had their back to her.

Whilst they were vulnerable, Charley dived and kicked their leg, making them topple forwards onto the ground. Using this to her advantage, she kneed the guard in the face hearing a satisfying crack. The guard tried reaching down for their gun but she got their first, kneeling down over him holding a gun up to his head.

"I don't want to kill you," she muttered, "I just want to get out of here."

The agent put his hand up in surrender, knowing he wouldn't attack her, she instead swung the gun around and used the butt of the gun to hit them over the head as hard as she could.

"hm… I always thought it would be harder to knock someone out," Charley assessed to herself, amazed at how easily the guard went unconscious, "I'll remember that."

Two more agents came sprinting down the hall. In a panicked state she realised they were too far away to engage in close combat. Charley took the gun from her side and aimed it up at them, firing two straight bullets at them, barely aiming.

She jumped as the gun blasted, not expecting it to be as powerful as it was. She must have hit her targets as there was no more running footsteps and the agents let out a pained scream.

Time to move on. She just needed to round one more corner and then she'd almost be at Bucky's room.

"Stop." A female voice ordered from behind her. She froze immediately.

She recognized the voice. It was one of the few voices she'd actually be forced to listen to over the past month. But also the only voice she really cared to listen to in this god forsaken place.

"Fifteen," Charley called her name, standing up and placing her hands above her head. She heard the safety of the gun being clicked off. She slowly turned to face her, trying to assess how close the person she had thought was her friend was. She was met with the chilling sight of a gun barrel being pointed in-between her eyes, "You know I can't stay here."

"You're aware I work for Hydra, right?" Fifteen managed to say, although Charley saw the pained look in her eye. Good... maybe there was hope she would help her.

She didn't want to hurt fifteen, but she would. If it got her and Bucky out of here. The problem was she knew she wouldn't beat her. Fifteen was her S.O. and along with her and Natasha, the two women had taught Charley everything she knew about the importance of speed and knowledge of strength, weakness and position. If it came to combat, she knew she wouldn't win.

"I know you hate it here as much as I do," Charley began, daring to take a step forward so she was closer to the gun. Partly because she wanted to create a connection with fifteen, perhaps if she saw her face and she begged her to let her go she would help her. Another reason was because the closer she got, the easier it would be to attack her.

If it came down to it.

"It's still my job," fifteen began, "I've been told to escort you back to your room and if you refuse to kill you on sight."

" _Well_ , I'm in your sight," Charley challenged, narrowing her eyes to try and guess what Fifteen was thinking, "And I'm not going back to your room."

Fifteen's hand wobbled.

Charley knew she didn't want to do this.

"So what are you going to do?" Charley asked her. Fifteen had always been the one person in here she hadn't been afraid of asking questions too. She would always get honesty, "I know you don't want to shoot me."

Fifteen groaned in annoyance, "Of course I don't,"

"Then don't do it," Charley shrugged as if it was the simplest thing in the world. All care had left her, she would either die today or be free today. There was no in between.

She thought of Bucky and how if she didn't get through to Fifteen he would still be stuck in Hydra's clutches. They'd probably wipe him if she wasn't around… but the Avengers would find them eventually. It wouldn't be forever. However, He'd hate her for getting herself killed. Even if he _did_ survive to get out of this and live free from Hydra's clutches once again.

The thought of this was enough to from a bubble in her throat as she teared up.

"I don't want to die," Charley admitted, thinking of Bucky and how he would react if she did die, "But what I did to that man… my target… I can't do it again. I won't."

"I used to think like you," fifteen said more to herself. It was moments like these that charley wondered if the reason Fifteen got on so well with Charley was because she saw so much of herself in her, of who she was before Hydra. They had stripped her of everything, "I won't let it happen to you too." Shakily her gun was lowered.

Breathing a sigh of relief that meant she wouldn't be dying by a person she considered a friend, Charley let out the first smile in weeks.

"Thank you so much fifteen," She extended a hand to her friend to try and thank her in some way, "You're a good friend."

"You can thank me when we get out of this," Fifteen decided, raising her gun once more but this time at something beyond Charley. She turned to see what it was and saw ten more agents coming towards them, "Go get Barnes, I'll hold them off."

She appreciated the use of Bucky's actual last name rather than Asset or Soldier but she didn't tell her, her appreciation and instead she showed her distain for her idea of leaving her.

"No, we'll fight them together," she boldly declared, holding up her two pistols to show fifteen. Fifteen shook her head harshly. It was the same head shake that Charley learnt early on was one of disapproval.

"You said you wanted to be free of this place, let me give you that." Fifteen shouted – more like demanded – Charley to leave, "That's an order from your S.O."

"Be safe," There wasn't time to argue as Charley shot off. As much as she would have preferred fifteen to be by her side whilst they took down Hydra together, she didn't have time to argue with the stubborn woman. She needed to get to Bucky.

Dashing through the corridors she was met with no disruption. She was so close to Bucky's room now. If she called out to him, he'd probably hear. She opened her mouth to do so but as she rounded the final corner she was met with the unwelcome sight of Volkov standing in the middle of the corridor, a gun raised at her.

Unlike fifteen, she knew _he_ wouldn't hesitate to shoot her.

She skidded to a stop, her bare feet scrapping across the floor and she hissed in pain. Realising her mistake she made to turn the way she had just come, Volkov calling after her, "Knew you'd come straight for him. You're so predictable."

With no hesitation, Volkov fired a shot.

Charley let out a scream as she managed to duck around the corner, covering her hands above her head for extra protection. Her blood pulsed around her as she collapsed onto the floor, fumbling for the gun at her side. That had been close, the shot had missed her by a heartbeat and hit a pipe behind her.

She just needed to take Volkov down and then she could get Bucky… One more person -

From said pipe, sparks suddenly erupted from it. The colour orange hissed at her suddenly as an explosion of brightness erupted. With no time to react as the force of the explosion blew her backwards.

"ah!" Charley let out a yelp as her head smashed into something. Dizziness overcome her and she had a split second to react as the blurry image of debris fell around her. With no time to move, she turned on her side and used her arm as a shield. She felt the odd bits of dust fall on her but nothing too heavy as she breathed a sigh of relief she hadn't been crushed to death. That was definitely the worst way to go.

Things just had to get worse. The only positive of this was she was tearing down Hydra.

"Grab my hand," Agent fifteen was by her side in an instant. Chocking a little, from all the smoke, Charley reached as far as she could, finally connecting hands with Fifteen who pulled her out of the debris and managed to get her on her feet. She was stronger than she looked.

"I took down all the other Agents. The explosion helped a little… what happened," fifteen brought her up to date in a mad rush as she assessed the scene around her. Fire lit up the corridor. One end had a barricade of fire, and with a deep pang of her heart, Charley realised it was the way to Bucky's room.

"I've got to get through there."

"It's too dangerous, we've got to get out," Fifteen coughed, the smoke getting to her lungs.

All of a sudden a great roar of insanity interrupted them, "YOU TRAITOR!" Fifteen was abruptly thrown into the air and across the room by Volkov who'd tackled her. Fifteen, being a trained Agent, managed to hold her own, kicking Volkov off and swiftly throwing punches of her own.

Charley watched desperately, internally debating what to do. On one hand she needed to get Bucky out but Volkov might end up winning the fight against Fifteen and she couldn't allow her new friend to be taken down this way. Bucky was safe for now, just as long as the fire didn't spread any further.

Volkov slammed Fifteen forcibly into a pile of debris, knocking her out unconscious. Just as he was about to finish her off Charley knocked into him. He was already worn out from the explosion and fighting Fifteen, perhaps she stood a chance of taking him down.

He looked crazier than ever, a scorch marked was sliced across his cheek and dirty dust covered his already beaten down face.

"You know I can beat you, asset," He jeered, turned around in an instant.

"I don't know that," Charley kicked her knee up, aiming for the stomach but he easily blocked her and she tried again, this time with her fist but he grabbed it throwing it back. She was quick to aim a punch to the stomach but he jumped backwards, avoiding her every hit.

At least she was in attack mode whilst he was using most of his strength to defend. All it would take was one well aimed hit and-

Suddenly, he grabbed a fist full of her hair. As if a puppet on strings he forced her down, making her face meet his knee. She recoiled backwards, focusing mostly on trying to breathe, the smoke in the air filled her lungs and she had barely any breath in her to cough it out. The taste of blood on her lips was just distracting her more.

Unable to block he knocked her to the floor, jumping ontop of her and pinning her down. His hands reaching for her neck. She tried to stop him but he squeezed harder. If she was struggling to breath before it was nothing compared to this. She tried turning her head to the side to find some more air but it was no use, his grip on her was way too tight.

Panic began to set in. Her head began to spin from lack of oxygen. The look of distress must have been evident on her face as a smile of satisfaction fell upon his face.

"It's a waste really, you could have been something to Hydra."

Her heart had been beating so fast that it felt like it was going to rip out of her chest. Now it had falling into a slow tempo. It was calming really, almost as if she wanted to give into the unconscious world and be released from this pain.

Clawing a hands at his useless, she used her remaining breath to snarl, "Hydra's finished."

"Cut of one head, two more will take it's place."

"Go to fucking hell," She rasped desperately, she only had a few more seconds of breath as she gave up trying to fight him, now searching around her for something… anything to hit him with.

There was nothing.

"I'll meet you there."

Just as she was about to slip into the darkness Volkov was thrown abruptly off of her.

Charley let out the biggest breath she could muster, despite the room being filled with thick smoke it was the most welcomed breath she had ever taken. She turned on her side, letting herself cough up her raspy breaths. Fifteen must have pulled him off, she must have woken up.

When she thought she had recovered enough, she turned to thank her saviour only to be met by another friendly face.

Her face broke out into a smile as he reached a hand to help her up.

"Thank god you're alright," Steve Rogers said, pulling up as he did and gave her a small pat on the back when she was fully on her feet.

"Steve…" Charley wheezed.

"You alright?"

She was still finding it hard to talk. For one she had almost been chocked to death, the second because she was in shock at seeing her old friend here.

"N-now you're here I am."

Steve gave a nod, "let's just get out of here."

"Bucky's just down-" before she could finished her sentence Natasha, Sam, Wanda, cat man and – to Charley's complete surprise – Tony Stark broke through the debris, followed by a dozen Hydra agents trying to shoot at them.

Sam didn't have the support of his wings as there was little room in the small corridor and Tony was walking everywhere in a suit that was designed to fly. It would have been comical, if the situation hadn't been so dire.

There was no time to greet anyone as Steve and herself rushed to join them in the battle.

She met with the collision of two Hydra agents and found it was much easier to fight when you had the back up and assurance of trusted team mates at your side.

She found herself next to Natasha who was easily taking out the Hydra agents as if she was dusting them off. It was to Charley's complete surprise to find she was wearing a Hydra suit herself. The clear symbol of Hydra on a badge was stuck to her arm.

"Why are you wearing that?" Charley asked after her, it hadn't been the ideal first thing she wanted to say to greeting her friend after not seeing her for a month but it was all she could think of.

"After we found your markings, I've been in this stupid cave of a base for three days undercover trying to find you," Natasha grumbled, "and then you decide to have an outburst and blow up the whole base… thanks for that."

Despite her clearly annoyed tone Charley knew the assassin was just happy to see her.

"You did all that for me."

"Course I did, you're my friend."

Charley didn't get to respond as she was moved further away from Natasha, as her current fight pushed her backwards. She knocked them both out, using the technique of hitting them with the butt of her gun (too afraid to actually fire any shots, thoughts of her mission a week ago triggered in her mind every time she went to use it).

She turned to see Sam glaring, and raising a gun to Fifteen who had awoken from her unconscious state to find half the Avengers around her.

"Sam no!" Charley yelled, running to the other side of the room and placing a hand on top of Sam's gun.

"She's Hydra."

"She's my friend," Charley yelled over him, "She won't hurt us, she's the reason I'm still alive."

"I want to kill these idiots too," Fifteen glare matched Sam's, and Charley was sure if looks could kill both of them would be corpses on the ground.

"Sam…" Charley warned and with a slight eye roll, Sam dropped the gun to his side.

"Fine, but you've seriously got to stop making Hydra agents your friends. First the Winter Soldier now this…"

Charley laughed, the feud between him and Bucky was never going to end was it.

 _Shit, Bucky._ She'd been so caught up in the battle and almost being chocked to death that she forgot Bucky wasn't fighting alongside them. She turned in hope that the fire at the end of the corridor had miraculously disappeared but she was met with the deep dread that it had spread further down.

Finding Steve in the crowd was easy, he and Wanda were working together to take down the enemy team. With her powers she was holding enemies whilst the punched the shit out of them. It was an effective method but she decided the fight could go on without Steve.

She grabbed him by the shoulder and due to the sudden jolt in the middle of battle, Steve turned around and raised a fist at the person who had touched him, thinking she was a Hydra Agent. Thankfully he looked before he acted and caught sight of Charley, dropping his defence immediately.

"Bucky's this way…" Was all she had to say to make Steve leave the battle and follow her. It probably felt like he was always trying to get Bucky out of trouble.

They didn't make it very far, however, as the flames licked up at them, trapping them from going any further down the corridor.

"I'm going to run through it." Steve readied himself, staring determinedly at the fire.

"You can't," Charley placed a hand on his chest to stop him running in. Not that it would be able to stop him, she was nothing in weight compared to him. His super soldier blood would do nothing to save him from the heat, "It's too hot, you'll kill yourself."

"Bucky's trapped on the other side of that."

"Don't you think I know that!" She snapped. Of course she knew, she was the reason he was stuck there, if she hadn't foolishly ran into the corridor where obviously Volkov would be… then things might not have exploded and got so out of hand. An idea struck her, "What about Wanda, she can clear the flames right."

She turned behind her. With Wanda, Natasha, Sam and Tony the fight was going well but Wanda seemed to be taking out the most Agents single handily. Natasha and Sam were mostly working together and Tony kept back from the close combat, working better shooting them from afar.

"How many Agents were in this base!" The fight seemed never ending as Hydra agents kept spilling through the smoke.

"Natasha reported to us that this was the last Hydra base, so most of the remaining, most loyal Hydra agents gathered here. There was over five hundred."

"Well shit."

"So… Wanda, that's a good idea," Steve turned back to the mission at hand and went to call out for her but instead Tony landed next to them.

"What's the problem here?"

"Fire," Charley pointed at the flames, being short and to the point, a bit irritated that Tony had decided to stand next to her. She hadn't forgiven him from the events in the last Hydra base. Now she had her memories back she was fully aware that Tony had tried to kill Bucky, as well as try to get him arrested instead of leaving them be.

"Let me just get that for you," Tony raised his arms and out came a spray which extinguished the flames in a heartbeat. The corridor was scorched and Charley knew it'd still be hot to travel through there but at least they wouldn't be risking burning alive.

"Thanks." Charley muttered shortly.

"Sorry didn't hear that," Tony chortled, moving away from them again to rejoin the battle.

"Jerk."

"He's here to save Buck and you, Charley," Steve scolded as they both began to travel through the corridor, "give him a break."

"hmm…" Charley chose not to respond. Knowing Steve's friendship with Tony meant a lot to him.

She could see his door in sight and her steps quicked. She felt like she'd never ran so fast in her life. They didn't have to worry for long on how they were going to open the metal barred door of his prison cell as Bucky emerged from it a moment later, having ripped the door off its hinges.

Steve and Charley stopped abruptly to let this moment of surprise sink in. Bucky had just ripped his prison door off… straight off its hinges.

Bucky was heaving angrily as he looked around, his fist prepared for an attack until his eyes landed on Steve and Charley. His shoulders relaxed instantly.

"What the hell took you guys so long," Bucky asked softly and Charley was satisfied to hear he was a little out of breath from ripping a freaking door off of its hinges. It meant he was still human and maybe she didn't have to feel so weak compared to him.

"You just ripped a door off of its hinges…"

"Well there was fire outside and then it suddenly disappeared, I had to get out and find you. In fairness the fire had burnt the hinges" He took a nervous step closer and Charley felt as if her body had taken flight. He was here, with her and they were both alive. The Avengers were here and they were free of Hydra. She had her memories back, they could get that start over they were looking for.

A tear slipped down her cheek as he stumbled forward and engulfed her into a hug.

"doll-face, don't cry,"

"You're okay right… they didn't wipe you, you remember everything?"

"Don't worry," Bucky soothed, stroking the back of her head and Charley sank into him, clasping at the back of his dirty shirt, "We're gonna be fine, we can forget everything that happened over the past month." She knew he was referring to her mission the other night, he must have known she'd done it. If anyone understood how she felt, it was him. She wanted to cry further but now wasn't the time and instead she allowed herself to smile. She could feel him, she was with him. For the first time in months she actually felt like everything was going to be okay.

She let out a little sob as Bucky finally let go and turn to his longest friend. The two smiled for a second before too collapsing into a long overdue hug.

"You're a punk for taking so long," Bucky laughed lightly.

"You're a jerk for getting yourself into this situation."

"You hardly expected anything else from me though," Bucky reasoned and Steve nodded his head agreeing.

"You're his damsel in distress," Charley raised an eyebrow slyly and Bucky glared at her.

"It wouldn't be you if I wasn't chasing after you every second to get you out of danger… let's just get out of this one." Steve joked but as they turned to lead back up the corridor he stopped and put a finger to his comms, "What's that Stark?"

A worried frown creased onto his face and Bucky and Charley eyed each other nervously, wondering what he had just heard.

Steve dropped his hand and gestured for them to follow him down the corridor as he broke out into a jog (his version of a jog was Charley's full speed).

"Hydra's implanted a fail safe bomb," Steve informed them, over his shoulder. Bucky's fingers tightened around Charley's at the word bomb, "Its on a timer. We should have enough time if we just run for it."

"And the others?"

"They're already out and are rounding up the remaining Hydra Agents."

"Good."

"Just go as quick as you can," Steve nodded at them and quickened his jog into a run, Bucky followed suit but didn't take his hand off of Charley's as he practically dragged her along side of them. Her legs (already exhausted) worked overtime to keep up but When Bucky took an extra step too far, she collapsed down next to him, no longer able to keep up.

"Shit, sorry."

Bucky stopped and crouched down next to her, "On my back – quickly, get on my back!"

Charley didn't need telling twice as she jumped on him, he waited until she was positioned safely on his back before sprinting off again, easily able to catch up with Steve who had slowed back into a jog.

"Well this is humiliating," Charley seethed, although slightly glad for the break as her legs had been screaming at her to sit down. Although, clinging tightly to Bucky's back wasn't exactly the most comfortable position to find herself in.

"Whatever do you mean…" Bucky tilted his head to look at her, giving her an amused side eye.

"The doors just up ahead, we're going to make it!" Steve told them but he didn't need too as Charley recognized the area they were in. The only time she had been close to it was when she had first entered the base and last week when she went out on her mission. She'd imprinted the look of this hallway in her memory. Desperately she'd hoped one day she'd actually be able to escape from this burning cave. Finally she was. They were almost free.

She could see the door up ahead. It was slowly getting bigger. They were going to make it.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted something black running towards them, Charley tried warning them but she saw it too late as the figure fired a shot. Bucky must have seen the figure too as he bought up his metal arm and deflected the bullet, in the process he dropped Charley who fell onto the floor with a thump.

She dusted herself off quickly but an arm restricted her movement as Bucky kept his metal arm firmly in front of her. Not that she was complaining, she didn't fancy being shot in the head. Then again, she didn't fancy Bucky being shot either.

"Volkov," Bucky jeered, his jaw hardened at the sight of his first enemy, "I was hoping you'd died."

"Take a lot more to kill me, you know that." Charley took a peak around Bucky's shoulder to see Volkov whirling his gun around wildly, he looked even more insane brushed in blood and dirt. His other arm held at his shoulder where a bullet would must have grazed as blood oozed out, creating a dirty trail following him.

"Hydra's finished."

"You destroyed my legacy," Volkov screamed, "I was going to be the greatest Hydra agent ever known. The greatest Agent who created the two perfect soldiers... maybe more if the Siberian base hadn't been destroyed but you had to ruin my last chance."

"Just let us go," Charley whimpered. She just wanted to leave, the exit was so close.

"Why would I? I can take you, The Winter Soldier and the great Captain America down with Hydra. If Hydra should fall so should you all."

Charley could feel Bucky tense next to her when in a sudden angry motion that unleashed seventy years of torture, Bucky flung himself at Volkov. Not expecting the violent attack, Volkov had no time to fire any shots and Bucky flung the gun away from him with one swift wipe of his arm. Steve went to join his friend as Charley stayed back. Volkov was injured, and was barely able to stand, he stood no chance against the super soldiers and Charley was in no fit state to join and help in the fight. She clutched her side painfully as Bucky landed a fatal blow and Volkov fell flat onto the ground. She attempted to hobble over to them.

"Is he dead?"

"If he isn't yet the explosion will kill him, come on…" Bucky reached out to grab Charley's hand and pull her the rest of the way to freedom but he didn't quite reach as the fire licked at the ceiling before finally it gave way, the roof trembled for a moment. A second later it collapsed. The world seemed to rumble as if an earth quake had happened directly where they were standing and Charley wobbled back, not having any strength to keep herself up and she dived out of the way to save being crushed. The debris falling directly in front of her path, blocking any way to get through to Bucky… and the exit.

As she landed awkwardly a slash of debris teared across her stomach and Charley cried out in agony.

She readjusted herself in an upright potion, gulping back a cry as a terrible puncturing blazing hot feeling went over her stomach. Shuddering away the pain she looked down with blurry tears. She couldn't make out whatever was in her, but whatever it was… she wanted it out.

With shaky hands she clasped her dirt covered hands around the object and gave it a tug. She roared out as a sting of pain went through the entirety of her body and a pool of sticky blood overflowed from her wound.

"Shit, shit, shit," Charley bit down on her lip to save herself screaming out, "ahh – I don't know… I don't know what to do,s-shit-t Buc-BUCKY. STEVE. H-HELP ME!"

"CHARLEY!" Bucky's scream ripped through her and Charley struggled to pull herself off the ground to respond. Crawling over to where the debris had fallen with all the strength she could muster. Maybe if they pulled away a bit of the debris, they'd be able to make it through.

She tried not to think about her stomach as she applied pressure to it, the blood soaked over her hands in her attempt to stop the bleeding.

"WHERE ARE YOU?" the desperation in his voice was heart-breaking and Charley tried to speak, to keep the pain out of her voice, not wanting to worry him.

"Yea-Y-yeah, I'm here. Just…just get these rocks moved please."

"Yeah… right… sure…" Came Bucky's nervous response, "Steve grab that one there."

"We've not got a lot of time until the place explodes."

"WE'RE NOT LEAVING HER!"

"I know, I know, obviously I'm just saying we might need more help." Steve said as he called up to his comms, "Anyone there. We need help…yes, we're still in the building…We're trying! … Look, Charley's stuck behind some debris, we've got to get her out… That's still enough time… I'm not leaving until we're all out"

She could hear the two boys working from the other side. She wished she could get up and help but she was struggling to stay conscious. She felt so useless leaning up against a small rock, feeling as if her life was slipping away from her.

"I'm gonna be fine," Charley breathed under her breath, in a desperate attempt to reassure herself, quietly so Bucky wouldn't hear her panic, "It's just a small wound. You're gonna get out of here…" They had been so close. Tears escaped her and she had no fight left in her to wipe them away, "Please, get me the fuck out of here."

Bucky and Steve needed to go. There wasn't any time. The building would explode any moment. She wouldn't let the boys trade their lives in for hers.

"Just go," She said croakily after a minute of contemplation.

"Don't be stupid Charley," Bucky responded in rasped breaths.

"We're going to get you out of here."

"I'm working on it," Wanda called out, she must have joined them. Now that she looked up she could see a red mist seeping through the rocks. Yes, she was probably the best one for the job.

Maybe she would get out. She croaked out a sob. She was so stupid, of course she wouldn't. she kept hoping for things to go a certain way but it felt like the universe loved to screw her over.

They had been so fucking close.

"Babe, are you okay?"

"I'm really scared, Buck." She decided to be honest, if these were going to be her last words then she didn't want to keep her thoughts to herself.

"it's okay… we're almost there," She wanted to laugh at that blatant lie. Even she could see, from looking up that Wanda wasn't even close to scratching the surface of the debris.

Did it matter if they moved the debris or not, she was still bleeding out of her stomach.

"I don't want to die," She admitted, finally looking down at the wound on her stomach. It was larger than she thought it would be, "shit," She whispered to herself. She was losing so much blood. She closed her eyes to it, she didn't want to see it anymore.

"You're not going too, we're going to get you out – WANDA HURRY UP," He snapped.

"I'm trying to go as fast as I can."

He must have got closer to the debris as his voice carried through a lot better, "Listen to me, we're going to get you out of here and we're going to get that life we always wanted?"

"The simple life…" Charley smiled despite herself. Imagining her and Bucky doing everything domestically. She'd get Mabel back from her parents and then they could live somewhere quite. A farm perhaps, Bucky would like that. Under the raider. Natasha mentioned it had worked out for Clint and his family, it could work out for them. Maybe one day they'd even get married… kids… if that's what Bucky wanted.

"That's the one," Bucky agreed and she could imagine the smile lighting up on his face at the idea himself, "But you've got to live for us to have that, you understand me. I'm not losing you because of Hydra."

Charley's lips barely parted as she tried to respond. Her brain couldn't think of anything to say, she just wanted it to be quite, to find peace, slip into the dark abyss that was welcoming her. She just thought of the simple life and maybe if she just relaxed… closed her eyes… everything would be better…. She could reach it.

 _ ***~It started with Pizza~***_

She hadn't responded.

"Buck! Tony says we've only got about thirty seconds."

"She hasn't responded…" Bucky's attention wasn't on the time limit they had. He wasn't going to leave without her. His focus was purely on the fact she didn't reply, "Charley come on, let me know you're okay in there."

"I'm almost there," Wanda snapped, sweat dripping from her forehead as she worked tirelessly, "one more…"

The final piece of debris fell away but it was that one rock that was supporting the whole ceiling. Just as it was about to crash and cause more damage, Wanda caught it with her magic, holding it in place with great effort.

"Get her, quickly," Wanda struggled.

Bucky didn't need telling twice as he jumped through the small hole Wanda had made and crawled towards Charley. His heart did a double beat as he saw her. Her eyes were shut and her hand curled protectively at her side.

She just passed out from the panic, Bucky told himself optimistically, moving closer towards her.

He leant down to pick her up bridal style when his face paled as he saw the pool of blood surrounding her. And he carefully moved her hand to see a deep gash going across her stomach.

"Doll-face," he breathed his nickname for her, looking up at her face to see her eyes still closed as if she was sleeping, "Come on, wake up for me."

This was his worst nightmare replaying before his eyes. Hydra had gone and taken the one most important thing from him. Once again.

"Buck, what's taking you so long. Come on!"

Right, the mission. Get her out and then he can worry about her fatal condition. Otherwise they'll all be fried meat.

Shakily he picked her up, looping one arm underneath her arms and the other under the crook of her legs.

"Stay with me," he whispered into her ear as he clambered out of the hole. Wanda finally let go when they were clear of the rubble with an exhausted sigh as it collapsed behind them.

Steve led the three of them out, passing Charley and Bucky a worried glance. There was something wrong. Charley was unconscious.

That could be fixed. She was only asleep.

Just as they cleared the building and Tony met them preparing to take Charley out of Bucky's arms so he could give her the one over of medical inspections (after all his suit was most equipped to deal with this type of situation) but Bucky held her closer to him. Cocooning her to his chest.

The building, just as Tony said it would, exploded behind them but they barely felt the quake as they had made it far enough away. Just a dust of extra wind swept passed them. The sky lit up orange and everyone, except Bucky, looked back at the remains of Hydra.

Worried for his friend, who he thought would want to celebrate in this occasion of finally ridding the world of their worst enemies. He turned back only to find Bucky had collapsed onto the ground. He was still protectively holding her, cradling her and rocking back and forth in a rhythm.

"Buck…" Steve took a step towards and finally saw what the problem was.

Bucky was covered in her blood, Charley's trousers and combat vest were soaked too.

"I don't know what to do…" Bucky hoarsely sobbed, his eyes brimming with tears as he looked up at his friend as if desperate for him to help "I think she's dead."

"No… no she can't be."

"I- I don't know just… someone here…" Bucky looked up at the others hopefully. Everyone apart from Natasha, (unaware of the situation unfolding) who was trying to round up the remaining Hydra agents who had survived the fire for later questioning, had gathered around Bucky and Charley's body. Sam, Tony, Wanda, Fifteen and T'challa all looked wordlessly at the scene, "Someone here must be able to help her."

 **A/N CLIFF HANGER. this is probably the quickest update I've done in so long. I just sat down for like two hours and cracked this out and I couldn't stop writing. I'm sorry if this is such a up and down rollercoaster of a chapter, it's the climax of the story so I want it to be good. Hope you enjoyed and sorry for leaving it on that cliff hanger. Guess you'll have to wait until the next chapter to find out.**

 **I just wanted to give a shoutout to BuckyBarnes07 who must have been reading this fic for two straight days as my phone was constantly buzzing getting a new review from you and it really brightened my day. So thank you. I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much :D**

 **A massive thank you as well to Arkytior's Song (sorry for making you cry, I'm afraid this chapter only got worse. Lol), .2018 (who never fails to leave a review, thank you so much for that), hkhorch (my favourite reviews to read. I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I was actually tempted to make Agent 15 turn against them and actually be true to Hydra in the end but I decided against it. Thank you ever so much) and Ryane (you're enthusiasm on your review really gave me the motivation to sit down and write this chapter)**

 **Thank you to all my lovely readers!**

hkhorch

Arkytior's Song


	50. The End p5: Doll-face

**Chapter 50**

Bucky looked up at the group before him desperately. One of them could do something, surly. He'd never felt like he'd depended this much on anyone before but as he looked up at the group he realised he'd do anything for one of them to help him. The blood was soaking through his hands as he tried to hold her limp body.

"Wanda…" He looked up at the young girl with red magic. He didn't know much about her but he knew at least partly what her power was. He'd seen her hold buildings up to stop them crushing them. Her magic must be powerful enough to close a simple wound, "You can… heal the wound? Right?"

She twisted her hand to let the red mist flow through it, looking down at it regrettably, "I don't think it works like that, I can heal the external layers but any internal damage I cannot see."

It was then that T'challa stepped forward. The gracious king had done so much for Bucky, for little in return over the last year. He had Housed them after the events at the Siberian facility, hid them from the government and offer medical support for Charley's memory loss and Bucky figured he had a hand in helping find them here. If he could save Charley, Bucky would forever be in his debt.

"My sister might be able to heal her if we can stabilize her now," T'challa ushered someone to pick her up and lead her to the quinjet. Bucky didn't waste any time and although he was exhausted, there was nothing that could stop him carrying her where she needed to be.

"Your sister can heal her?" Bucky asked, impatiently waiting for the quinjet doors to open. Steve placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but it did little to calm him.

"I've seen her heal much worse. Just get her on board."

The doors opened and Tony took lead in preparing the medical equipment.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. get the medical table out for me," A table emerged from the floor of the quinjet, alongside a connecting heart monitor screen. As soon as it was up, Tony turned to Bucky and held out his arms to offer to take her from him. Bucky growled a harsh 'no'.

"place her there then, geez I'm just trying to save her life."

"I don't trust you."

"Now is not the time," Steve looked between the two of them, glaring daggers at one another. If it was any other time he'd get them to sit and talk it all through. Tony still had issues with Bucky about killing his parents and rightly so, but perhaps taking down the final Hydra base would make him more aware of the mind games Hydra played with their assets. Now was not the time to have that conversation, however, with Charley's life on the line.

"just get her on the table."

Everyone moved around to get in the correct positions. Charley was placed on the table and connected to the heart monitor. Sam leant over and injected her with something and Bucky waited for a miracle to happen.

He gave a sigh of relief when the heart monitor connected and the soft beats of a heart began to play through the jet. A slow beat of a heart.

"That's my girl," Bucky grinned, relief flooding through at the fact she hadn't died. Not yet.

"Okay, put pressure on the wound here… Wanda."

Wanda looked unsure of herself as she placed her hands where it needed to go. Tony seemed to be taking lead and Bucky wondered how he knew what to do. He was a mechanic… right, not a doctor. Or maybe he was one.

He got his answer quickly though when Tony uttered a quick thank you to his A.I., F.R.I.D.A.Y., when Bucky realised it was the A.I. giving him all the instructions.

"You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"Not a clue…" Tony admitted honestly, gathering up some bandages from a side table.

"Her life is in your hands, if she dies-"

"What you'll strangle me to death?" Tony stared down Bucky, not flinching as Bucky's look darkened. He didn't need the reminder of how he'd killed Tony's parents right now. When Tony didn't back down, Bucky decided he probably deserved that and took a meaningful step away.

"Sorry, you're trying your best."

"That's right I am."

Another person joined them as Natasha came running onto the quinjet, moments before they took off.

"What's going on?" Natasha assessed the scene as she saw everyone crowded around the centre. Confused as to what they were all staring at she made her way forward, gasping when she saw who was injured, "How did this happen?"

"Must have been some debris from when the ceiling collapse."

"She didn't tell me she was hurt like this," Bucky mumbled, more to himself, hating that she didn't tell him she was hurt. He might have been able to help. He knew basic medical training. He could of at least warned her not to take the object out of her stomach. What was she thinking?

With one hand stuck tightly to Charley's , his other hand clenched and unclenched in a pattern, unsure of what else to do as everyone darted around her lifeless form, trying to move in a way they didn't get in between his and Charley's linked hands. He felt completely useless.

"She probably didn't want you to panic."

Bucky didn't want to hear it, as he jumped up from where he stood. Finally unleashing his unwilling hand from Charley's and made his way across the quinjet to look out at the view. The Hydra base burnt in the background. In any other circumstance he'd have called it beautiful. The final fall of Hydra was the only thing he'd ever wanted for the past seventy years. That was until he met Charley.

"How long until we reach Wakanda?"

"A few hours at most," T'challa informed from the drivers seat, "I'm going as fast as I can."

It wasn't fast enough, Bucky wanted to add, but he had the good sense not to annoy everyone on the plane. They were trying their best. He just needed to calm down –

"Take a deep breath, Buck… We're going to get her to Wakanda and Shuri will fix her up." Steve offered. Again, he attempted to comfort his best friend.

Bucky didn't look up at him as he said this, "It was my fault she was even there."

Steve released a sigh, "don't do this to yourself, it won't help her current condition to blame yourself for this."

"It's true though," Bucky moved away. He didn't need someone to tell him he wasn't a monster. If Steve could tell him he could magically awaken Charley so he could see her beautiful eyes again, _then_ he would listen.

Steve couldn't find the right words to console Bucky. He remembered what it was like to lose Peggy. He'd been devastated. It felt like no one in the world could understand his loss of the most brilliant woman he had ever met. His only attachment to the life he knew before.

But she had moved on in those years and had already had a life of her own without him. It was different for Charley and Bucky, they had planned for a life _together_. To witness that all go to waste after everything they had been through, Steve couldn't even begin to imagine how Bucky felt.

Amidst the crowd of superheroes, Bucky chose to sit the furthest in the corner next to Agent Fifteen who had mostly kept to herself with her arms wrapped tightly around her body and stayed in the shadows. It was a safe place for Bucky to sit without people attempting to comfort him. No one knew Fifteen so no one payed her any attention (other than Sam who kept shooting her death glares, but Sam was in no need to comfort Bucky so it didn't matter.)

"I'm sorry," Fifteen said, not bothering to look up at him.

Bucky wished people would stop saying sorry to him as if they were consoling him over her death. She wasn't dead! Not yet… He could tell from the soft rhythm of her heart beat monitor jumping up and down.

"Yeah…" Bucky sighed. He could see her chest rising and falling. She was going to be alright, "I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" Fifteen looked genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, you taught Charley how to defend herself properly. How to defend herself against Hydra, if it wasn't for you she probably wouldn't have survived in there."

"She saved me as much as I did her, she took over my fight with Volkov without a second of hesitation. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for her." Fifteen frowned as she stared up at Charley's fatal form, "I owe her a great debt."

Bucky nodded, remembering something Natasha had once told him when he asked her why she cared so much about Charley, "I don't think Charley views your friendship as a debt."

"hm…" Fifteen hummed in agreement, "Sorry, that was Hydra talking."

"Believe me I know the feeling."

"I remember when I first saw you," Fifteen began, her eyes zoning out as if she was thinking of a new memory. She suddenly looked solemn, "I had just been taken from my home and I was to begin my training, and on our induction, they brought us past this room where there was this chair. You were on it and it looked so painful. I only saw it for a moment…"

He knew she hadn't meant to, but a rush of flashbacks was bought to his memory. The chair was his worst nightmare, every time they wiped him he wanted to find the courage to run and fight back. He'd desperately try clinging onto his memories until exhaustion took over him and the machine won, stealing the small clips of memories he had. The last thing he'd hear was the thunder of the machine as his mind was wiped.

"What I'm trying to say is I'm glad you're finally free of that place. No person deserves what they did to you."

"Thank you," Bucky nodded his head in appreciation but a sombre frown quickly replaced it, "But I don't believe Hydra is done for good. It'll come back. Cut off one head and two more will take its place. I'll never be free of them."

"If Wakanda is as good as that man in the panther suit is saying," Fifteen eyed T'challa up with interest as if trying to figure him out, "then you should be safe there. When Charley wakes up maybe you can ask for the both of you to live there for a bit."

Bucky hadn't considered it before. He had always assumed he'd go wherever Steve went. But Steve was always looking for the next fight to face, constantly heading into battle no matter how small or big it was. He didn't want to live like that anymore, especially if Charley was at his side. She deserved better than that.

Living the simple life in Wakanda seemed perfect.

"I think she'd like that," Bucky's lips stretched ever so slightly into the smallest smile he could make. With everything going on, it was all he could manage.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Charley was pulled out of his sight as soon as they arrived at Wakanda. Shuri took lead, guiding Charley away on a stretcher. At least she seemed to know what she was doing compared to Tony. That was a positive.

"Can't I stay with her," Bucky turned hopefully to T'challa, the one person who had the authority to grant him access.

"My sister will let you know as soon as she's well enough for visitors. The technology here has the ability to heal her quickly. You won't be waiting long," T'challa assured stepping back into the building and was greeted by a line-up of Wakandan Warriors saluting him.

Bucky gave T'challa a nod in thanks. Perhaps he hadn't been paying attention as most of his focus was on Charley being taken away from him, but he didn't notice Steve arrive next to him and he jumped in surprise. Steve frowned as his flinched in surprise, finding it unusual that a trained killer whose reflexes were always spot on could be spooked so easy.

"Easy there," Steve assured, "just me."

"Sorry," Bucky bit his tongue, really wanting to shout at Steve to leave him alone. He'd much rather wait outside Charley's room until Shuri gave him the all clear. He could see that wasn't going to happen as Steve led him by the shoulder away.

"See, I told you she'd be fine. She's in Shuri's hands now." Steve sympathetically bowed his head and Bucky imagined he thought it was in a calming fashion but it just irritated him further. It wasn't that he was glad to see his friend after months of being missing, he just couldn't physically stand the thought of small talk at this precise moment "You know that girls a genius, she'll fix Charley up easy... Do you want to go get some food? You've probably not eaten much at Hydra-"

"Steve, I know you're trying to help," Bucky bit across, snapping, "But I'd much rather be on my own right now."

A flash of hurt passed over Steve's face but it was gone a matter of seconds, replaced by that of sympathy. He sighed as a way to clear the tension and nodded understandingly, "Whatever you want, Buck… just eat something will you, you're starting to look like a skinny version of me and I wouldn't want that for anyone."

Bucky looked down at himself. It was true. He'd spent the last two years eating healthy again (well as healthy as takeout's with Charley could be) and being back in Hydra's clasp meant his meal quantity had dropped drastically. It was part of their Winter Soldier programme to train him for survival, to test how long he could go without food and not die.

Bucky looked up and dared to smile, "No one could ever be as skinny as you were."

Steve gave a hearty chuckle, clapping his friend on the back and left him be. It was only when he was gone did Bucky realise how much he could have probably have done with the company to distract him.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

 _A bright line shone around the distorted water. It's shimmering glaze reflected right into Charley's eyes and she had to squint to see further up the path. She took a daring step forward, the satisfying squish of her feet against the muddy ground told her that she was barefoot. It was freeing to take an unrestrained step along the path without the worry of dirt or mud soaking her skin._

 _She could clean herself up later, she thought._

 _Just have fun, she told herself beginning a jog._

 _It had been so long since she'd ran in the open air and take a breath of the nature around her. It was like she had taken breathing for granted, so she soaked in as much as she could. Every now and then she'd losing her footing on the uneven floor and accidently dropped a foot into the river bank._

 _She wasn't particularly sure where she was but she followed the river up with little concern. She reached her hand out to grab the long grass, letting it slip soothingly through her fingers._

 _The sun was setting in the distance, like a movie scene as she saw the bright orb rest across the plains of what looked like a field. She found, however, she could look directly at this sun without her eyes flinching in pain. The orange glint made her feel like she was looking into the soul of something. Memorized for a moment, she hears her name being called to her from a short distance._

 _At first she didn't look away, captivated by the suns aura until she feels her hand being tugged and she is physically turned. Annoyance overcame her as she angrily clicked her tongue, wanting to snap at whoever had pulled her away from the beautiful sight only to be met with Bucky's soft eyes._

" _doll-face," He mouthed… or maybe she just couldn't hear him. She hadn't heard the wind blow the dust in the air either, or the sway of the grass as it brushed up against one another, or the plopping of water as she stepped into it's murky depths. It was silent. Like a silent movie being played out live._

" _Bucky, what are we doing here?" she frowned, having heard herself plainly. Why could she hear herself and not Bucky? "Why can't I hear you?"_

" _I'm not with you, but I want to be," Bucky told her. It was quite at first but his voice eventually came into focus and she could hear him just as well as she could hear her own._

" _But you're right here," Charley leant over and placed a hand over his chest. To feel him. To check if he was really here and not just made up in her imagination and although she could touch him it was like he flickered for a moment, just a second. It was just enough to tell her that perhaps she really was all on her own. "Where am I then?"_

" _I don't know," Bucky looked around, his eyes not particularly focusing on anything, "I can't see anything. I only see you."_

 _Charley clung to his hands desperately as she could feel him tugging away, "Where are you going?" Her voice was suddenly hoarse as if she'd been screaming for hours._

" _I can't stay here with you."_

" _But I want you too."_

" _And I don't want to leave you," she could see the defiance in his eyes that no matter what she said she couldn't make him stay. It was the only way. She didn't understand. Why couldn't they stay here together, it was beautiful here. The air was still and quiet, it was everything Bucky had ever wanted after everything with Hydra._

… _Hydra… She remembered. She had been there too. They had tried to turn her into something that she wasn't. But they had escaped… hadn't they? That's why they were able to stand in this beautiful field free and alive. Right?_

" _Bucky, am I dead?" Her voice cracked on the last word. Panic setting in, was she going to be stuck here forever? The plains didn't seem so beautiful anymore as she looked around suddenly alarmed by how empty it felt. There was no one in sight, not even a bug crawling helplessly on the floor. No life but hers. The lack of sound was deafening and she sudden need to scream to fill the empty silence was overwhelming._

" _That's your choice."_

 _No matter how hard she held on tight to his hands, it didn't stop the wind from catching him, his body floating away as if swept up in the wind and disappearing right before her eyes. She tried to catch him but just as her hand reached his it turned into nothing but empty air and ash._

 _Quickly she looks at the sun to check if the wonderful rays were still shining on her but everything turned black._

Heaviness overcame her. It was as if someone was trying to drag her in every direction but the one she wanted to go. A voice around her began mumbling something but in her confusion she couldn't make sense of it, only the odd words like 'conscious' and 'stabilized'. She decided for a moment to sink back into the darkness. Just for a little bit. She'd wake up soon.

"It's been days," Another voice said and it felt like it had only been moments later, "are you sure this is how it's meant to be?"

"Sergeant Barnes I assure you, I've seen cases like this before. Her brain activity is exactly what we'd expect for an injury of this degree. _And_ besides, some people take longer than others," A pause followed and she felt someone brush past her, her hands curled up on impact. No one in the room seemed to notice as the woman declared, "I'm just going to leave you alone for a moment, call me if you need me."

"I will," Bucky sighed, "but I doubt much will happen."

"Don't give up Sergeant."

"hm."

Silence followed and Charley felt slightly irritated by the sudden nothingness of the real world. She'd spent days in her head full of silence and wanted to open her eyes and tell him how much she loved him. She tried her best to move but her body wouldn't let her, but instead tried desperately to get her to sleep again. Perhaps it was the fact she knew Bucky was in the room with her, but the darkness didn't seem to appealing now that she was awake.

"Did I just see your eyelid move?" She could feel her hand being tightened, "Are you awake? Come on… please come back to me."

She tried desperately to respond but everything felt so heavy. She was screaming at herself for not being able to respond, as if she was stuck in the walls of her own mind. All that came out was a slight slur but it was enough to get Bucky excited.

"Doll-face, you're awake!" He cried out in joy, jumping up from his seat and onto the bed where Charley felt the bed dip slightly, "Can you hear me?"

"Do-" she tried but it felt like so much effort to talk.

"What is? Do you need something? I can get Shuri? Do you need water? Food? Are you in pain?" Bucky instantly began listing off things she could possibly need and just about Charley managed to shake her head no. What she really needed was to open her eyes.

"Do-don't c-call me doll-face." She managed, her words slow and drunk but Bucky managed to make it out.

"You know I can't stop, _doll-face_ ," he jested, adding more seriously, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired," Charley mumbled softly.

"Just sleep then," he said and she felt her readjust her pillow so it was comfier.

"I love you," She hummed before giving into the darkness again.

The next time she woke up, her eyes managed to open. She prepared for the squinting sunlight to hit her, but was surprised to find her room dimmed and outside her window was dark. She could just make out the reflection of the streets below, illuminating lights in the distance.

"Wakanda," Charley figured from the setting. She'd been here once before but at a time when she didn't really know who she was. Now that she did the place felt a lot more naturally beautiful to her, "wow." She thought as she eyed the black panther statue visible in the far away distance as if acting a protector of the city.

"You're awake," Having not seen anyone in her room after she woke, she whipped her head around quickly. She regretted it instantly as her head began pounding from the pressure of moving so fast.

Steve was standing in her doorway. The surveyed the rest of her room and saw Bucky sleeping in the shadows on an armchair, his head lolled forward uncomfortably and she knew he'd have a neck ache in the morning. Not that he would complain about it. He never complained, but she was getting very good at reading when he was uncomfortable.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little rusty but glad to be awake," She shrugged, yawning despite herself.

"I'll just wake Buck…"

"How long has it been since he slept?" She stopped him just as Steve was centimetres away from Bucky's shoulder.

"This is the first time since we got to Wakanda."

Fearing the answer, Charley asked, "And how long have I been asleep?"

"Four days."

"leave him be for a minute," Charley decided. As much as she wanted to see him, his health was a bigger concern. She hated how he pushed himself. Sometimes she thought he forgot that he was human too.

"Are you sure?" Steve eyes his friend nervously, not liking the idea, "he'll be upset we didn't wake him."

"I'll still be here when he does wake up," Charley reasoned, "How much has he eaten?"

"Not a lot," Steve snitched on him, letting out an amused chuckle when Charley's face reddened in anger at her boyfriend for not keeping up his strength, "You're the one who was just impaled and you're worried about him? He's been fine, just worried."

"The stupid idiot could have killed himself before I woke up," Charley glared across the room before remembering why she was even in the hospital room in the first place. Steve had said she'd been impaled. She looked down at her stomach and slightly pulled up the hem of her hospital shirt to look at the wound expecting to see a massive sown up gash, only to see nothing but a small graze, "What the hell?"

Steve had looked away quickly at the sight of skin, even though it was nothing indecent, "Um… yeah, it's Wakandan technology."

"Looks like magic," Charley traced a hand over her wound but felt nothing. It was as if nothing had never happened.

"I know, it is kind of amazing."

"How close to death was I?" Charley queried. The last thing she remembered was collapsing back at the Hydra base. Now she was awake, she felt ridiculous for panicking so much, it felt so unnecessary.

"Very," Steve nodded truthfully, "If Wakanda wasn't an option you probably wouldn't be here."

"Wow," Charley gasped astonished. She literally had a near death experience. That was a new one, "Is everyone else okay? No one else was hurt, right?"

"Everyone's fine, I think most of us was just worried about you." Steve said, "Even Tony popped in to see how you were."

"Glad to hear the great Tony Stark cares," Charley mocked sarcastically.

Steve glared at her disapprovingly, "He came to help you."

"Ugh, don't give me that look grandpa," Charley jested, only to smile at how shook Steve looked, "Where is he now?"

"He had to go back to New York."

"Sure, he won't rat us out?"

"I'm pretty confident he won't," Steve assured her and Charley decided she'd give the billionaire a break. After all, he had gone out of his way to save her and Bucky and considering his history with the Winter Soldier she could hardly blame him for wanting him dead. If Steve trusted him then he was clearly worth hers. She gave a curt nod to show she believed him.

"You're awake!" A new voice called and it was Natasha who waltzed in, followed by a very out of place Fifteen. It was an odd sight to see her mingling with the other Avengers. They both had their hair tied back tightly and sweat dripped from their forehead. Although less so from Fifteen and she figured the ex-Hydra agent had been giving Romanoff a run for her money.

"Yeah, yeah I'm alive. Surprise everyone!" Charley laughed as Natasha gently went in for a hug, "Thanks for coming back for us."

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you out in the first place," Natasha sighed regretfully, "I could have avoided everything."

She couldn't help but think what could have happened if they had got out back in her old apartment. Charley would have never have had to kill that man. She wanted to ask about that, the Avengers clearly knew about the murder or else they wouldn't have seen her coordinates. Did they assume Bucky had done it?

Nevertheless, she shook her head, denying what Natasha said. It wasn't her fault. And despite it all, if they had of gotten out Hydra would still be around and chasing Bucky wherever he went. She looked over at Fifteen who stood back awkwardly. If she hadn't of gotten captured by Hydra then she would never have met Fifteen and saved her from the evil organization.

"Don't be silly 'Tasha," Charley rejected, "You did all you could." Knowing Natasha was going to try and argue back, Charley changed topic. "Hey Fifteen – you fitting in alright?"

"Yeah it's been good, everyone's been kind… except maybe that Sam guy," she really had missed Fifteen's smooth accent, "I've spent most of my days at the gym with Natasha."

"She's crushing me Charlotte," Natasha grumbled her voice light with humour, "If she's been training you, I can only imagine how much you've improved."

"No more fighting for me thanks," Charley raised her hand to stop Natasha there. She hoped the plan was to stay in Wakanda (If T'challa let them), her and Bucky could live quietly on the outskirts. They wouldn't have to worry about Hydra, and the likeness of anything bad happening in a place as protected as Wakanda wasn't very high.

Natasha nodded understandingly.

"And if I see Sam, don't worry I'll give him a beating for giving you a hard time."

"It's alright," Fifteen shook her head, "Some people take longer to trust than others, I'd be exactly the same if the tables were turned."

"What's going on?" Charley recognized Bucky's slow 'I've just woken up' voice. She smiled at the sound of it. She missed him the most. It felt like it had been an eternity since she'd been this content.

Bucky appeared at the side of her bed in an instant.

"Why didn't anyone wake me?"

"Well maybe if someone actually slept over the past few days I'd have woken you," Charley scolded, shaking her head in disapproval but really she was just happy to see him, "You should have kept your health up, I was always _going_ to wake up. I wouldn't have died on you like that."

"Seemed like it for a moment," Bucky gave her an equally disapproving look, "Don't do it again."

"I can assure you, I won't be looking to impale myself again."

Bucky smiled down at her softly before leaning down and placing a gentle kiss on her head. Everyone slowly emptied from the room to give the couple their privacy.

"You really scared me there."

"I'm fine," Charley held his hand tightly, glad she could finally hold it back. Bucky looked at her as if he didn't believe her but didn't say anything more and remained at her side, "How are you feeling now Hydra's finished?"

"Relieved," he admitted, a smile gracing his face, "I mean I'd have felt like celebrating with everyone else if the love of my life didn't almost die."

" _Aw_ , I'm the love of your life," Charley beamed proudly to herself, "You're so soppy."

"I love you," Bucky kissed the top of her head again, lingering for a moment longer. She understood why. The fact that they were actually able to be near one another again and able to even touch one another again felt unreal. Like they were in a dream that could never be a reality.

"I love you more," Charley said, closing her eyes as their foreheads rested against one another and allowed herself to sink into this dream. They were actually safe. No more constantly looking over their shoulder. Now she had woken, she hadn't seen Bucky look this calm in forever. However, reality settled back in as she thought about the last few days, a tear dropped down her cheek, "Bucky… about what I did."

"It doesn't mat-"

"I killed someone Buck!" Charley snapped. How could he say it didn't matter? Realising she may have said it a bit too loudly, she looked up at the open door to see if anyone was outside. She didn't want anyone there to know what she did, she could hardly forgive herself. How could they forgive her.

"It doesn't matter." Bucky repeated more sternly, gently guiding her chin away from the door to look up at him, "You did it to survive and it worked… right?"

"That's not the point-"

"You're alive, that's all the matters."

"That man isn't though. I took it from him." Charley cried. Suddenly she looked around in distress, "Do you have a phone or something? A tablet – so I could – I need to search it up, maybe there's a police report or a news report. I need to know what they've said."

"Babe." Bucky got up to calm her as Charley abruptly started thrashing wildly about in her bed to look for something. When she couldn't find anything, she swiftly kicked her legs off the side to try and find it elsewhere, " _Charley_ , that's not going to help!"

"I don't care if it helps me! A man died _because_ of me, I don't care about myself!"

"Hey… okay… Just sit down, please… Charley… sit down and take a deep breath, it's okay." Bucky cooed, gently guiding her arms so they were sitting back down again. The only reason Charley listed to him was because as soon as she tried to stand the world started spinning and she had to plant herself firmly back on the bed to make it stop.

Nervously, she looked up at the man she loved. He had done so much in the name of Hydra, and she still understood why, she could never see him as a monster. Not when he kissed her so lightly and cared about her so gently. Yet, she couldn't see herself as the same. Bucky had been brainwashed most the time… she reasoned…. He didn't have a choice. Charley had been in her right mind.

"Look at me," Bucky calmed but he sighed when She was still looking wildly around the room for a device to search up her worst horrors on. Tenderly, he placed a hand on either side of her head and leant down to her level, "Listen, everyone in this building has probably killed someone. It doesn't make it right but they all did it to protect or defend themselves – Hydra forced you into a position that they had no right inflicting on you. You did it to protect yourself and to protect me. I love you so much for that, but you can't let yourself be defined by what you did in a moment of distress. Otherwise Hydra wins."

Charley looked into his eyes, still unsure.

"I don't- I don't know, Buck."

"It won't be easy but you'll move past this, I promise," Bucky assured, bringing her head closer to his so he could rest his against hers. He continued in a low whisper, she was close enough to hear it. They were in their own little protective bubble, "I moved passed it with your help. You didn't make me feel like a monster. I'm always going to be here for you, we'll get through it together."

"You promise?" Charley asked, remembering all the times he left her. All the times the universe had tried to split them apart.

"Promise."

"What are we going to do now then?"

Bucky paused contemplating for a second.

"Whatever you want.," he said finally.

 **A/N That's it folks the final story done. I've only got the epilogue to write and then I'm going to be marking this as complete BUT I will be adding an extra two chapters at the end to follow Infinity war (it's up to you readers if you want to read that part, if you finish on the epilogue you'll be getting a happy ending, if you don't finish on the epilogue then, well… it's infinity war. That shit was sad) I don't know if I'll pick it up again after that but I guess I'll see next year. You might have noticed I'm updating quicker that's because I don't want to leave this story incomplete but I also can't leave it months without updating because a lot of exciting stuff is happening for me in real life and I just won't have the time to write this, so I've been hurrying up with this.**

 **Thank you once again to everyone who has read my story and especially thanks to my amazing reviewers.**

 **Raider-K new reviewer!1 You probably won't get to this chapter for awhile so thank you so much for reading and reviewing, it means so much. Glad you're enjoying the story so far and hope you enjoy it the rest of the way too :D**

 **I also think this story has suddenly got way more people reading it really suddenly and I'm so grateful for all of you! Thank you, I love you al!**

 **Tritana702: Sorry for ending it the way I did! I know, that was so cruel on me but I promise it doesn't end bad as you can see, I'd never do that to you readers! Although I'm glad I gave you the impression she wasn't going to make it.**

 **Arkytior's Song: I've updated, I'm sorry for the pain! Please forgive me, lol.**

 **.2018: I'm sorry you thought she was going to die! I promise I would never have done that to you readers, that would have just been cruel if I had killed her like that. Thanks so much for reviewing as always!**

 **BuckBarnes07: I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter (even if it was a rollercoaster ride). I've updated as quick as I could, thank you so much for your lovely review which motivation me!**

 **Ryane: haha, I love that. Beauty and the beast was always my favourite Disney film. I can confidently tell you that 'it isn't so', she didn't die, lol. Thanks so much for the lovely review :D**

 **Hkhorch: Thank you so much for this amazing review! It will impact her for a bit, but with Bucky by her side she can move on. After all out of everyone he can relate most of all. I was so indecisive about agent 15, I'm glad you're happy with where I took her character. She'd make a great friend with Natasha, especially with a shared history of being trained by a corrupt organization. I'll have to write her into the Infinity war bit of my chapter too (yes I've seen infinity war… WHO HASN'T, it was so amazing but freaking sad at the same time. I can't believe how they ended it). Yes Volkov is dead, don't worry. Lol. He ain't coming back and I'm glad. I'm so happy you think I wrote the part where she was stabbed well, I really wanted to show her panic in that situation – as anyone would – about being so close to death. I also didn't want her to turn into a mary-sue where she can suddenly deal with every situation. Even though she's been at Hydra she's not a trained assassin. She's still just a normal person caught up in the life of superheroes. I was thinking of Wanda to help heal her, but I thought that would be too easy to deal with. Also I love Shuri and I wanted to give her a moment in the spotlight. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING, your reviews are always my favourite to read. I'm so grateful. Hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.**

 **Lara Barnes: I'm so sorry for that cliffhanger, I felt really bad after I'd written. Originally I intended to end it with T'challa stepping forward saying he can help her but I thought I'd just be a little bit mean. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I am forever grateful!**

I love you all!


	51. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

The air around her didn't hold any breeze or wind. It was still and calm. All she could feel was the warmth of the sun soothing her skin. Relaxing in the atmosphere she closed her eyes, it helped her concentrate on the peacefulness of this place as she heard the kids giggled behind her and the crackling of the fire sparked at the camp. She could get used to this.

Even though this horizon was certainly spectacular to look at, she span around and entered their hut to face the best view by far. Bucky was sleeping, and Charley couldn't but smirk to herself proudly as she knew the explanation for his exhausted was from their nightly activities. It was always impressive when you could get a super soldier tired out.

Careful not to wake him she leant down and kissed him on the forehead. When she pulled away she stilled for a moment, afraid she had woken him when he sleepily sighed against her lips.

"Come back to bed," Bucky mumbled, still half asleep as he reached his hands out as if to catch her, she managed to dodge him. She wanted nothing better than to lay down and sleep next to him but she had things she needed to get on with today and staying in bed wasn't one of them.

"I can't." She kissed him lightly again, lingering against his lips, "If I come back to bed I'll never get up again."

"I don't see any problem with that."

Bucky opened one eye to look up at her. He squinted, surprised by the light that filled their hut, shot her a quick smirk and closed his eye promptly.

"Lazy shit you are," Charley chuckled, jealous he was still snuggled up in their blankets. It looks rather comfy. Bucky made a noise of disapproval but said nothing more. Sighing to herself she decided to move and actually get on and do something today, "Shuri said she was going to come down today, to check how we were getting on. Are you going to stay asleep for that?"

"Yes, probably."

"Great host you are."

"That's what I've got you for."

"Rude." Charley stood up, leaving Bucky to his slumber. He'd worked hard over the past few days, she reasoned with herself. Too hard. She knew it was because he was trying to show his gratitude to T'challa for letting them stay but he was going to make himself ill if he continued. It was a pleasant sight to see him allowing himself a lie in for once, so she wasn't about to complain.

She went outside and was hit with the bright air. Looking up, she had to cover her eyes but saw through the cracks of her fingers the protective dome that was a bubble above them. It felt secure and safe. No one could get in unless T'challa allowed them too.

Suddenly something sprang up at her, jumping on her back. For a moment Charley froze, fighting every instinct in her body to turn around and defend herself against her attackers but when she heard the recognizable soft giggle, her shoulders relaxed.

"What are you doing?" Charley laughed along, playfully swinging the kid around to face her. Two more Wakandan children swarmed around her and began chattering away in African.

"mholweni!" The kids shouted in African. Charley never had any idea on what they were saying but she'd picked up the odd word and phrase since living here and recognized they were greeting her, "nceda udlale nathi!". It didn't matter if she couldn't understand them anyway… she enjoyed their company far too much and most the time they only ever asked her to play.

They took turns as she gave them piggy backs, running around the open field as she playfully threatened to drop them into the river flowing next to their huts. They giggled along and they began to play a game of hunters where they pretended to have bows and arrows and she pretended to dodge them. The game would come to a conclusion when Charley dramatically fell to the floor, clutching at her heart as if she'd been shot.

They came bounding over, after she'd hit the grass, to her and poked her face to wake her. She sprung up and tackled them to the ground next to her, tickling them all over as she did so.

Finally, they were out of breath as they collapsed onto the floor next to her. Catching their breaths One of them ran a finger through her hair, twirling it through her fingers.

"Ngaba uya kundivumela ndidlale ngeenwele zakho," The little girl said. Charley shot her a confused look, not understanding before the girl mimed for Charley to sit up. She did as the was told as the girl set to work putting a simple plait through her hair.

"Thank you," Charley smiled. She'd been meaning to plait it herself anyway. It was far too hot out here for her to stand it down, plus her hair had grown past her shoulders since living here (she felt no need to cut it short again) so it was nice to actually do something with it rather than letting it loose.

"White Wolf?" One of the kids asked in English. She knew they –just as she had – picked up a few English phrases from her and Bucky.

She pointed to her hut, when a smirk filtered onto her face. If he wouldn't wake up for her, maybe she could annoy him awake. When the little girl was done plaiting her hair, she guided the children by hand to their hut where she placed a finger on her lips and told them to sneak. The kids quietly giggled to themselves but went along with the plan.

Bucky was still fast asleep, although she suspected he just had his eyes closed. They entered the hut and sneaked closer.

"Ready?" Charley raised an eyebrow coyly at the kids before all four of them pounced on Bucky. As she suspected Bucky seemed prepared for the attack as he playfully roared, jumping up straight and with his non-metal arm began to ruffle the kids hair who tried to swat his arm away.

"That was mean," Bucky grumbled, rubbing his eyes when the kids finally got off of him and ran out of their hut laughing behind them.

"You were being lazy, it was only fair." Charley added slyly.

Bucky didn't respond but got up, pecked Charley on the cheek before running out after the kids. Watching from the door of their hut, Charley couldn't contain the smile that lit up on her face as Bucky practically fell over his own feet trying to chase the kids. They always dodged him. Five minutes over he pretended to double over as if worn out and the kids jumped on him knocking him to the floor.

"I surrender!" Bucky heaved and the kids got off of him. One offered a supportive arm out for him to help him up, "Thanks kiddo."

When he was up he reached Charley and placed a lazy arm around her shoulder.

"Good morning White Wolf," She mocked the name he'd been given since arriving here. She was just glad no one had attempted at giving her a nickname.

"Laugh all you want but if I'm a wolf that makes you my bitch," Bucky jokingly added and Charley raised a hand to her heart in mock insult.

"At least I didn't get beaten by children, you look worn out old man?"

"Well I'm not as fit as I used to be," Bucky defended. She knew it was a lie, T'challa and him often went off to train together. Although the invitation was always extended to Charley she always refused. She was done with fighting, it was not like she needed it living here. Every now and then she would get a refreshment lesson from Fifteen (not that Bucky knew about these sessions), just in case, but other than that she was done with that lifestyle.

"I never asked last night but… How was your mom?" Bucky asked. She knew that Bucky wasn't really the biggest fan of her mother. After all she had ratted them out to Hydra, but Charley reasoned it had all just been one big mistake (that had cost them greatly). She just had to remember they were all safe now.

"She was fine," Charley said, trying to remember what she'd talked about with her mum over the phone. All she knew was she tried to stay away from the topic of Bucky. It was a taboo subject in her family household now, "Since everything the governments' still keeping an eye on her and they've had to move house. They couldn't give me an address so I don't even know where they are… it's a safe house, in case Hydra isn't really gone but they're fine. They don't know where I am, and I don't know where they are… probably for the best." She trailed off.

"You'll see them again," Bucky comforted, sensing the hidden feeling behind her words. She was worried that the last time she saw them was her memory-less self, running away in the heat of the moment. It wasn't the best goodbye. They shouldn't have had to say goodbye at all.

Bucky pulled her closer and squeezed her shoulders, "It'll be okay, doll-face."

"At least I'm able to call them," Charley tried to see the positive, "And it's not just complete silence."

"Exactly," But nodded in agreement but frowned at the wavering of her voice as it almost broke. Somehow she managed to hold herself together and turned to focus on the sunrise at the waters edge. "Here, I've got something for you. It'll cheer you up."

"A present!" Charley laughed joyfully as Bucky let go off her arm to go grab something from their hut. She waited with anticipation, wondering what it could be. Their anniversary wasn't for a month and her birthday and been and gone.

"This." Bucky appeared again, holding up something silver on a chain that caught the sun, reflecting a bright halo. A moment passed by before she recognized it..

His dog tags.

"You've still got them," Charley smiled, moving closer and cupping them in her hands protectively, "I was wondering where they had gone."

"I knew I'd get them back to you some day."

"Me? They're yours you should wear them."

"They're yours," Bucky disagreed, placing them over her head and Charley couldn't help but feel content as the familiar object was back around her head again, after a year of being apart from her. It was like everything was back to normal again. She reached up and held the tags in her hands, squeezing them for comfort.

"Thanks, Buck."

"No problem doll." He leant forward and kissed her nose gently, "Just don't go taking them off again."

"Never."

She moved forward and captured her lips with his own. Slowly their mouths moved together and she finally let go of the tags to wrap her hand around his neck, whilst his moved to her waist, moving her closer so their bodies touched. She could stay like this forever.

A disgusted noise sounded next to them and the couple pulled apart to see one of the children grimacing at their kiss. Charley tried to hide the blush that slid onto her face as she buried her head into Bucky's shoulder. He only chuckled at her embarrassment, stroking a hand through her hair as a movement of comfort.

"forgot they're young eyes here," Charley frowned, glad the children had gone back to playing by the rive now.

Bucky hummed in agreement as they settled back down to admiring the view again.

"I love this place," Charley breathed in the still air, the natural smell of grass hitting her pleasantly, "And it's all advanced and stuff but you know there is one thing missing from this place."

"What's that?"

"Pizza." She replied childishly.

 **A/N**

 **And the main story is done. I'm marking this as complete now because I'm not sure when I'll be able to get onto the Infinity War Chapters (there's going to be 2/3 chapters featuring Infinity War. I've planned it out and I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit it all into 2 chapters but I'm hoping so)**

 **I can't believe how many reviews I've suddenly got. Thank you so much for all the support through this story and especially to those who have stuck with it from the beginning. You're amazing. I'm so excited it's done (and also slightly relieved) I hate having incomplete works which is why I'm hoping to finish off my Robin Hood fanfiction that I haven't updated in over two years… and then once I've done that I'm probably going to be done with fanfiction forever (well never say never but for the foreseeable future. Unless I come back to this one next year).**

 **ALSO if any of you have got any good Marvel fanfiction you can request, please let me know, my friend was asking me for some and I've not got a very good selection for her to choose from because I don't read that much fanfiction anymore.**

 **JDMichelle2625: Thank you so much for reviewing! Glad you've enjoyed it, I definitely had fun writing it but knowing I had such amazing readers kept me going.**

 **.2018: Thank you so much for sticking with this story until the end and reviewing every chapter. Honestly, it means so much to me so thank you!**

 **Mcduffie145: I'm sad it's finished soon. Maybe I will update after Avengers 4, I'm not sure yet. It depends if I'm still in the mindset to update, although where I'm planning on ending the Infinity War part of this story, it will definitely leave it open ended (you're all going to hate me basically, lol). No don't worry, I'd love to tell you. Basically I'm quitting my job soon and hopefully going to be doing a film experience project in London as an editor. I've got an interview in three weeks time (I'm so nervous so fingers crossed) plus I'll be starting University in September and ALSO I wanted to finish this so I could get on with writing my actual book that I've almost finished planning. I just can't wait to get started on it. With everything going on, I just don't think I'll have time to write fanfiction. Thank you so much for sticking with this story and reviewing though, it means the world to me and really kept me going.**

 **Arytior's song: Thank you so much for reviewing!**

 **Quadalupe1992: Thank you, I'm glad you liked the chapter!**

 **BuckyBarnes07: Thank you so much! I actually started doing quicker updates when you started reading and reviewed pretty much every chapter. It really pushed me to get it done so I'm so grateful.**

 **Raider-K: Thank you so much for you're amazing reviews the past few days. I can't believe you read my entire fic in that amount of time so thank you! Don't worry, I'm sort of dreading writing the Infinity War chapters because it's going to be so painful. Thank you so much again!**


	52. Infinity War p1

**Infinity War p.1**

"Do you think he'd like this?" Charley held up a spear. It wobbled in herhand as she underestimated it's weight. It wasn't as big as the Dora Milaje, nor as maleficent but by now she'd looked around all the market stalls and saw nothing that caught her interest. She was starting to become desperate to find something for Bucky, "He's such a loser for these vibranium weapons, I bet he'd love to have one."

"Does Barnes use a spear?" Fifteen asked, peering over at the item with interest. It had an impressive handle where Charley could see the vibranium metal create a stripped pattern along the surface.

"No," She admitted glumly, placing the product back on the stall and shook her head to the merchant who had been ready to sell. Fifteen stilled looked eagerly at the spear and Charley nudged her shoulder, "get it. Spears are more your thing."

"I don't want to waste the loan T'challa gave me," Fifteen reasoned, finally pulling her eyes away from the spear.

Charley frowned at her friend. Fifteen had joined her in the confinement of Wakanda. For her crimes as Hydra agent, she was a wanted woman. There were moments – _Charley knew_ … that Fifteen had contemplated handing herself in and leaving the safety of Wakanda. The guilt rested heavy in her eyes. She understood her guilt of course. The news reports thought that it was the Winter Soldier who had killed Charley's target. She hated them blaming it on him, when it was her that had taken the man's life for no other purpose than her own survival. In her eyes, it didn't make her worthy of survival.

"I'll pay," She suggested, turning the merchant who was becoming visibly agitated with the two girls who were blocking his stall from other customers.

"No," Fifteen quickly placed an arm on Charley's just as she reached down for her purse, "it's fine, we're here to get something for Bucky."

"just because we're here for Bucky doesn't mean I can't treat a friend."

"Please don't," Fifteen rolled her eyes, "It's bad enough I'm living under T'challa's protection, and I'm already in your debt, I can't keep adding to it."

"right, I get it," Charley said, putting away her purse much to her annoyance. She would love to treat Fifteen, goodness knows the woman could do with a pick up, "you don't like it when people are nice to you."

"That's not it," Fifteen disagreed as they continued walking down the street. They'd already been to all the stalls, so there wasn't really much point looking anywhere else. Charley had wanted to get something that Bucky was interested in for his birthday that was now looming closer and she was still no closer to getting him anything. He'd always marvelled at the technological advances of Wakanda, she thought the best place to look was in the markets in the street of Wakanda where most of the products had Vibranium as their source of power. There was nothing that seemed special enough however.

"What is it then?"

"I just…" Fifteen hesitated. It wasn't very often she opened up and if she did it was only ever in the privacy between her and Charley. It was nice to have a friend who she could rely on completely, "I wish I didn't have to dependent on everyone. Even when I was at Hydra I was dependent on them for survival and when you suggested I join your friends… Captain America? On their missions, I just couldn't. I'm afraid I'll spend the rest of my days in Wakanda, trapped behind this dome of protection all because I was too frightened to explore the world for myself finally."

"It's okay," Charley reached out and took her friends hands, "I feel the same here sometimes, but we'll work it out together. It's okay to depend on others for help from time to time, it's braver if you can admit you need help."

Fifteen squeezed her hand gratefully.

"Come on, I'm giving up with shopping for the day. Let's go up and spar for a bit. That'll cheer you up," Charley suggested and tugged on her friends hands to pull her in the direction of the gym. Even though Charley wasn't the biggest lover of sparring anymore, it gave her something to do and kept her in shape for when she needed to fight.

Just as she reached the steps King T'challa and Okeye appeared, stepping down them. Charley was never sure what to do when she came across the King of Wakanda. Bowing was always what they did in the movies but T'challa always dismissed her bows, so instead she stepped back, letting them take the path and held her hands to her front respectfully.

"Charlotte," T'challa greeted. Not expecting to be noticed, she raised her head and gave the black panther a small smile.

"Hi," Charley's voice shook as she internally panicked but her smile slipped away when she saw the distressed look on his and Okeye's face, "What's wrong?"

"We were just on our way to see you and the White Wolf."

"What's happened?" Fifteen asked, noticing the tension too.

"The world's in a bit of a situation," Okeye told them, which only intrigued Charley further.

Charley hadn't seen a news report in the entire time since she'd come to Wakanda. The only stuff she knew about the world was what came from her mother on the phone and it was usually unimportant stuff… like which celebrity just got engaged. If something bad _had_ happened, she would have no clue.

"Tony Stark has gone missing."

She gasped, out of surprise. If anyone was to go missing Stark was the last person she'd suspect with all his technological protection. Despite her surprise, confusion only replaced it. How did Tony Stark affect them or Wakanda? Not that she didn't care, despite their disagreements in the past, Stark had aided them in escaping Hydra's clutches but she still didn't see how this affected Bucky (or the white wolf as people called him now). Bucky tried hard to avoid mentions of anything to do with the Avengers, he was truly done with that life.

"I still don't understand."

"Let us walk and I'll explain once we're with Barnes."

"okay…"

Fifteen and Charley followed close behind the King and his right-hand woman. They kept glancing up at one another, both trying to guess what had gotten them so distressed. Surly Wakanda was safe. It was the safest place in the world.

They walked for a good ten minutes before they reached the field where Bucky was working. In the distance she could see him helping out at the farm closest to them. He was sweaty from work. She always told him he worked too hard. Well… at least she'd be able to join him for a shower later. There was always a positive.

He didn't notice them approaching until they were feet away.

"The Kingsguard and the Dora Milaje have been alerted," Charley heard Okeye inform T'challa. She knew she shouldn't have been evesdropping but she couldn't help it, everything seemed to intense and she had no idea why. Why did all the warriors needed to be alerted? Was a fight about to break out.

"Did you hear that?" Fifteen whispered to Charley worriedly. She had been thinking the same thing. The worried lines increased on Fifteen's forehead. Charley knew Fifteen wasn't ready to fight in another war.

"And what of this one?" Okeye nodded her head to Bucky's direction and Charley's interest sparked once again

"This one may be tired of war. But the white wold has rested long enough."

Charley's stomach plummeted at the mention of war. Was Steve aware of this? She looked worriedly up at Bucky who smiled at them, noticing they were coming. He was completely unaware of what was about to happen. She decided there and then that If T'challa was going to invite him to another war, Charley was going with him.

She did a little jog to meet him and met his enclosed arms. Perhaps the desperation to reach him after what she'd just heard between T'challa and Okeye gave it away, but Bucky kissed the top of her head and whispered with concern, "What's happened?"

"I don't know, something bad," She responded, equally quietly as they shared a look.

"Can you explain now?" Charley impatiently asked, releasing Bucky's warm, yet sweaty, embrace.

"Steve Rogers called us," T'challa explained as he gestured for a few of the Dora Milaje to bring something to him. They picked up an ominous grey case. The metal casing clearly made of Vibranium.

"Steve?" Bucky's eyebrows rose in surprise. It had been months since he'd seen his best friend. Although, Charley would have to remind him, that he did speak to him on the phone just two days ago.

"Steve needs us to protect someone for him. Someone called Vision?"

Her and Bucky shared a look. Charley didn't know vision all too well. When she stayed with them at the Avengers base she had steered clear from the AI robot. He would often fly through the walls unannounced. One time doing it whilst she was about to head into the shower. The one thing she did know about him was that he was one of the most powerful Avengers there was.

If he needed protection then something was definitely wrong.

"Why?"

Without missing a beat Okeye answered before T'challa could. "aliens in space want the stone on his head," She rolled her eyes as if the whole thing sounded ridiculous.

The image of New York awoke in Charley's mind. She hadn't been there personally. At the time she'd been watching the news in the safety of her own living room in Washington. Hundreds of people lost their life that day. She wasn't sure what she would have done if the attack had been aimed at Washington instead but she could only think of the fear that the civilians went through at seeing real life aliens attacking them. It would have been something out of a movie.

"We are to hold them back whilst my sister helps Vision," T'challa told them the plan before addressing the case that they had mysteriously brought with them, "This is for you White Wolf."

The Dora Milarji opened up the case. Inside was a glorious new metal arm, Shuri's design… Charley was sure. Golden strips like veins went across it and the vibranium metal shone bright in the African sun.

"Well I'm never going to find a present as good as this," Charley chided under her breath to Fifteen who managed to stifle a laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

"I already have an arm," Bucky told them, wary of accepting it.

"Shuri told me to tell you that she think you'll find this one a lot more functional than any Hydra technology," T'challa said lightly, "She said it whilst scoffing so I think you should accept it or she'll be coming down here to explain why you think Hydra creates better technology than her."

"Do we have to fight?" Charley asked nervously as Bucky approached the arm with deeper interest.

"Is Steve going to be there fighting?" Bucky questioned, surprising Charley. He hadn't seemed eager to fight before. Why would Steve being there make a difference?

T'challa gave a short curt nod.

"No one has to fight," T'challa reasoned, "but it is for the protection of the world that we do."

He paused and Charley knew Bucky had already made up his mind. If Steve was there fighting on the front lines, so would Bucky. Goodness knows he would follow Steve to the ends of the earth if he had too. She didn't want to think about what Aliens were coming down to attack them, but if they were anything like New York then they were doomed. Wakanda's warriors were fierce, but there wasn't enough of them… not to fight off an alien army. Her heart began racing as she realised their peaceful happy ending was no more.

"We're creating safety zones near the centre for civilians, I'll leave it to you to decide where you go," T'challa readied himself to leave when Fifteen stepped up.

"I'm coming with you."

Okeye nodded curtly and the three left together.

"Is this a good idea?" Charley turned to Bucky, the sudden need to cry over came her. She didn't want this. She thought they were in the safest place the world could offer them but she was wrong. They were finally happy. Why couldn't it stay that way? "Maybe going to the safe zones is for the best, you're not really fit to fight and Steve would understand, we could stay there until this whole thing blows over and then it'll all be okay-"

"Babe you know I've got to fight." Bucky reached up and cupped her cheek, "I can't just go to these safety zones and pretend this is not all happening. I've got to stop running from the next fight."

"Buck, please, I don't want to lose everything we've all built." She was desperate. She had to cling on to the happiness they'd found. Everything had been perfect.

"It sounds like these Aliens are coming whether we like it or not and for once I want to be on the right side of a war."

She couldn't stop herself flinching. Bucky shouldn't have to be involved in any war. He was still recovering from the previous times he'd been dragged in to battle. The last thing she wanted was for him to be dragged to another war again.

"Please understand why I've got to do this," Bucky pleaded, his eyes watering. She understood, of course, both had been battling with self hatred for the things they'd done. Bucky for over seventy years. You didn't carry that amount of hatred without wanting a way to redeem yourself. This was his way. Charley knew if she pleaded enough with him to come to the safety zones that he would. He'd do anything for her if she asked. But she wouldn't… not this time, Bucky clearly needed to do this.

"I'm going to go find Shuri to get this arm attached. You get to the safety zones T'challa's setting up and I'll meet you there in a bit to say-"

"Goodbye?" Charley snapped a little harshly. She regretted it as soon as she saw him flinch "… sorry."

Bucky didn't say anything but remained silent and watched her carefully.

"I'm fighting too." Charley decided.

"What? No.. charley"

"Don't try and stop me," Charley's voice picked up in warning as Bucky glared at her, "don't give me that look, now you know how it feels when the person you love is willing to go to war and you can't use the excuse that I don't know how to defend myself, because I do now."

"I'd feel a lot better if you were safe away from everything."

"I'd feel a lot better if you were safe away from everything too but I can see that's not going to happen, is it?"

"No…"

"Well then it's not happening for me either. Together or not at all."

Bucky opened his mouth to argue but he knew there was no point. Once she had made up her mind it was decided, there was no turning back. Whilst it infuriated him, he knew there was no changing it. It was one of the reasons he loved her so much.

"I knew I shouldn't have started training you," Bucky laughed, leaning down and kissing her nose lightly, "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Please stay close to be if this becomes a war, and just… just stay alive."

"Hey," Charley felt the fear in his voice as she reached up, their foreheads touching as she leant into him, feeling his breath warm against her cheek, "nothing's going to happen. We're going to do this thing and it'll be back to normal."

Bucky nodded, comforted by her promise.

"Marry me."

Charley stilled, and moved away for a second. The last thing she'd been expecting was that. She made an inhuman sound.

"What?"

They hadn't spoken about marriage. She assumed Bucky hadn't wanted to progress with their relationship any further than they already were. He was happy living the quite life in Wakanda with no other worries. In his mind, he had never expected to have even that.

"Marry me, after all this is over."

"Are you proposing to me?" She stared in awe at her apparent future husband. She was screaming to say yes but confusion stopped her. It was so out of nowhere. She had accepted this was the best things would get with Bucky. A smile spread across her face as Bucky shrugged a dorky grin on his face.

"Well I haven't got a ring or anything," He replied, "but… It just felt right. I'm planning on spending the rest of my life with you and there's no one else, so why not."

"I fucking love you," Charley sprung up and placed a fierce kiss on his mouth. Bucky was caught off guard and took a moment to respond but finally he wrapped an arm around her waist, tightly pulling her closer, "That was a yes by the way," She giggled between kisses.

"I got the message."

"You need a shower," She pulled away, running a hand through his greasy hair. He needed to stop working so hard.

"I just proposed and that's the first thing you say."

"You just proposed and you didn't give me an expensive ring, I'm allowed to be as rude as I want."

"Alright, that's fair" Bucky pulled away but still kept one hand on hers as he started pulling her back towards their hut, " but If I'm going for a shower then you're joining me."

"Oh am I? I don't know if we have time for hat," Charley raised a flirtatious eyebrow. Bucky grabbed her waist and pulled her towards him so there was no air between them, his metal arm cupped the back of her head.

"We have time."

She was planning on joining him anyway.

 _*~It started with Pizza~*_

"That looks amazing," Charley mentioned, motioning to Bucky's new and slick metal arm, after Shuri flawlessly installed it, "You're brilliant Shuri."

Shuri shrugged as if it was no big deal, "Yes, I am."

She chuckled at the teenager's honest opinion of herself. There was no point beating around the bush, she was amazing and she knew it. The teenage girl could rival Tony Stark if she wanted to and most probably beat him. She was at least a lot suffocating to be around than the billionaire.

"How does it feel, Buck?"

"Good," he didn't know what else to say, "Really light."

"I've been told that you're joining too?" Shuri turned to Charley, "I've made these for you to wear"

Charley hadn't thought about what she'd wear to the battle, she figured she'd just change into whatever she wore to spar with Fifteen. Which was usually just some gym leggings and an old crop top. She realised now how stupid that image would have looked, surrounded by superheroes wearing costumes and suits and she rocked up with her gym leggings.

Gratefully she reached out and took the armour from Shuri. She was expecting it to weigh her down but it was surprisingly light. The armour was a mirror image of what the Dora Milaji wore but was coloured silver. She had no idea how to put it on and had to ask Shuri for help.

"When is Steve going to be arriving?" Charley asked Shuri just as Fifteen joined them, wearing similar armour to Charley except with a holster around her waist. Apparently she was going with a gun for her chosen weapon, "Looking good," Charley remarked.

"I've heard he'll be here in about an hour."

"Let's hope the Aliens don't get here before they do."

"Here's a gun," Charley didn't notice the second gun hidden in Fifteen's holster but she pulled it out and handed it to her friend. Charley stared at it for a moment. The last time she'd held a gun had been back in the Hydra base. She hadn't considered what she'd take in as a weapon, most of her fight had been hand to hand combat. But she obviously couldn't do that with an Alien… She didn't _want_ to do that with an Alien. Shakily she reached up and took the gun, nodding a head of thanks to Fifteen as she did.

As she looked away she caught Bucky's eye who had noticed her hesitant stare.

"Just breath, you've got this," he mumbled so no one else could hear. Fifteen was busy tucking more weapons away in her costume whilst Shuri was preparing something in the corner. For what she had no idea. Briefly, Charley considered whether Shuri would be joining them on the battlefield.

"I forgot war includes killing people," Charley admitted, carefully placing the gun away in a handy strap down at her leg.

"babe, you forgot to put safety on."

"oh, shit." Quickly before she accidently shot herself in the foot she switched the safety on her gun on and slid it back in, "maybe me going out there is a bad idea." She addressed, panic beginning to set in as they were hours away from a massive battle.

Bucky sighed, "Charley I know you're looking for me to tell you that you'll be fine, but in all honesty I'd rather you _were_ away from the battle. But, I'll have your back the whole time and believe me shooting aliens running at you with no mercy is a lot easier than shooting a target Hydra has forced you to kill."

"okay," Charley took a deep breath. She looked out of the window and at the dome protecting them. What were the chances of them breaking through that anyway. Wakanda had never been invaded before, "Yeah… you're right." This was completely different to Hydra. That was against her own will and she killed an innocent victim. This was fighting to protect people invading their home, "I can do this."

"You sure?" Bucky pressed further, "It's not too late to get your butt down to a safety zone."

"Together or not at all remember."

Bucky smirked, "I don't know if it is a good idea for you to fight with us," Bucky raised an eyebrow and Charley smiled, picking up on the flirtatious tone of his voice.

"And why's that?"

"You're going to be distracting… вы выглядите жарко в этом снаряжении"

"Hm," Charley hummed, looking down at herself to see if the armour really did suit her figure, "You know you made a mistake teaching me Russian. It used to be cute when I couldn't understand what you were saying."

"I only taught you so I can flirt with you without people knowing."

"Natasha probably would disagree… but…" Charley leant in closer and used her most seductive voice she could, "продолжайте говорить так, и позже вам повезет"

"that better be a promise," Bucky winked, grabbing his own gun from the side. They were ready.

Fifteen appeared beside Charley. Her armour had a lot more additions with more weapons than Charley could count strapped to her legs and hip. Probably since Fifteen had been upgrading it throughout the year.

"I know you two like to think you're the only two people in the world who can understand one another but I _do_ know a bit of Russian," Fifteen side-eyed Charley, giving her her best unimpressed face. It was the face that first made Fifteen so intimidating to Charley, "Keep it in the bedroom guys – Whilst you've been flirting, Steve and the others have arrived."

"Steve?" Bucky perked up, suddenly sitting straighter. Charley smirked, her loser boyfriend could never contain his excitement at the thought of seeing his best friend. She should really be jealous of Steve if it wasn't for how cute Bucky was being.

"Let's go see your boyfriend, Buck," Charley giggled, taking his hand as Bucky began to sulk.

The world's most deadliest assassin was sulking. She should really take Shuri's advice and start carrying a camera around with her.

They arrived where the quinjet had landed as T'challa met with their guests. All their old friends were lined up to greet the King of Wakanda. Steve was in front, shaking hands with T'challa as Steve asked 'How are we looking?'

"You will have my Kings guard, the border tribe and the Dora Milarje. And…"

"and a semi-stable 100-year-old man." Bucky made his presence known

"And a clumsy mess whose hoping she won't stumble on the battlefield." Charley smiled brightly when she saw one of her best friends appearing from behind, still rocking the blonde hair.

"NATASHA!" Charley leapt forward, letting go of Bucky's hand and running to her friend. Practically jumping on her as she pulled her into an overdue hug.

"Charlotte, long time no see."

"too long," Charley agreed. Their email exchanges had come to a close a few months ago. It was becoming much too dangerous for Natasha to respond with her being on the run for so long. Her, Steve and Sam had been spending the year chasing down the remaining Hydra agents who had fled when the base went up into smokes. As of last month they were done of their search and Hydra was officially no more. Now they were just running from the Governments men that was closely on their trail. Natasha's hair had been cut even shorter, but apparently the blonde hair was sticking.

"How have you been?"

"Good." Charley leant forward, excited to tell her friend the news but not ready for everyone else to know, "Bucky proposed to me earlier."

"No way," Natasha gasped looking down at her hands to see if she could catch a ring but Charley shook her head.

"Well… not officially, but he asked."

"I'm glad the end of the world is ending well for someone. You're glowing with happiness." There was a stillness to her voice and Charley knew something was making her tense. She caught sight of Bruce talking with Rhodey and understood. Bruce had been away for three years and was now back, no wonder Natasha was feeling awkward.

"Chizzle!" Sam interrupted any attempt Charley would have made at comforting her friend.

"if it isn't my good friend the one and only falcon," Charley laughed, greeting her old and most annoying friend as she normally did – With a fist bump, "You're looking a little rough. I heard about your fight in Scotland?"

"How about you try taking on aliens from out of space with nothing but some wings and then we'll see how you look," Sam frowned.

"It looks like we might be facing the aliens soon," Charley reasoned, trying not to think of the upcoming battle. She was just glad her friends were back together. Finally, Bucky was able to fight along side the place where he should have been all along. Next to his best friend.

Speaking of Steve.

"Oi! Rogers!" Charley yelled out. Steve and Bucky were still mid-catch up conversation as the two turned to face her. Charley had already seen Steve's overgrown beard that made him look like a scruffy mess whenever he and Bucky skyped over the past year but it was still a shock to see it in person, "stop making eyes at my boyfriend, I'm getting jealous over here."

Steve shook his head at Charley's banter and hugged her. He whispered, "From what Buck's told me you're a bit more than girlfriend and boyfriend now."

"Soon to be your future sister in law," Charley grinned back. Now most of the important people knew. All she needed was to tell Fifteen and her family.

 _Fuck, her family._ She hadn't thought of them. How would they react? Would they be able to attend when they finally got married? She doubted it, they were under house arrest.

 _Not now, you're about to fight in an alien invasion_ … Charley put a stop to her invading thoughts.

"You're fighting too then, huh?" Steve noticed Charley's armour and gun in her leg strap, his eyes lingering a moment too long on it and she noticed the worried lines creasing on his forehead.

"You're going to need all the people you can get."

Steve looked over with concern at Bucky, who shrugged. There was nothing Bucky hadn't tried already to change her mind about fighting. She thought she'd proved plenty of times in the past how capable she was but she knew how overprotective Steve could get, so let it slide. These men would never get tired of trying to hide her from a fight.

"We're lucky to have the both of you," Natasha appeared beside her, "Come on, we've not got all day. We've got to get Vision secure."

They nodded, following T'challa as he guided them to Shuri's lab. There would be time to catch up later when this was all done. Charley followed along beside Fifteen who was rambling away to Sam. It was unlike the ex-Hydra agent to talk so much. There was definitely something between the two. Even Sam's smile lit up a bit brighter whenever he was in Fifteen's presence. It wasn't often they were in the same room together, as Sam had only visited three times throughout the years but Charley knew they were somehow communicating over the past year. It had gotten to the point where Charley had almost asked Shuri to hack into Fifteen's emails to see if they were sending messages between one another.

However, she knew if she ever brought it up then Fifteen would deny it completely.

Behind her was Bruce Banner. She hadn't met him officially yet but had seen many news report of the Hulk. The spread of fear and destruction he brought. Looking at him now she didn't understand where it all came from.

Plus, there were so many ridiculous theories circling the internet about where the Hulk had been for the past three years.

Biting down her nerves at being so near the Hulk, Charley turned around and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Charley," She greeted and Hulk – Bruce… gave her a sweet smile.

"Uh, hi. I'm Bruce – how long have you been caught up in this lot then?" he asked softly.

"Since Shield fell." Charley explained, "I have no superpowers or anything."

"You're like Natasha?" Bruce asked, his eyes lighting up at saying Natasha's name, "Are you an Avenger?"

"Well I'm not a trained spy. I sort of got introduced to this whole thing by accident. Have you met Bucky? Steve's friend."

"Not officially…" Bruce replied, "So you've got caught up in this mess by association?"

"Basically," Charley shrugged. She never thought of it that way, "So where have you been all this time? The internets going up with crazy theories."

"What's the craziest you've heard?"

"Um… let me thing. There was one that said you and Ultron had a love affair and you and him escaped together and entered an alternate universe where you were living happily ever after with him."

Bruce stared with open eyes and open mouth, "What websites are you looking at?"

"Tumblr," Charley laughed as Bruce looked slightly terrified. The internet was a scary and dangerous place sometimes, "So How close was my theory – where were you really?"

"I apparently flew to an alien Planet and was stuck as the Hulk for all those years, trapped as a type of gladiator style fighter for the Grand Master before Thor saved me, we flew through the Devils Anus and defeated Thor's sister; Hela the goddess of death."

Charley stared blankly for a second, "The Ultron love story is starting to sound more plausible now."

Finally she shrugged. She should have been shocked by the thought of someone going to an alien planet and fighting a literal god of death. But it really wasn't the worst thing she'd ever seen and after spending four years in the life of the Avengers she wasn't surprised by much anymore.

They reached Shuri's lab where everyone was trying to find a way of saving Vision. Apparently they needed to remove the mind stone from his head but still keep him alive, as it was what some guy named Thanos was after. She wasn't really listening. The jist was that an Alien army was coming for them and they needed to stop them entering Wakanda.

After her and Fifteen had gotten their comms system up and running. They finally wandered outside and left the scientist to their business. They met up with Sam and Bucky who were looking up, supposedly keeping an eye out for the Aliens to arrive. To her lack of surprise, she found them squabbling like children on a school yard. Some things never change.

"What are you arguing about now?"

"Nothing." Bucky snapped, glaring at Sam from the corner of his eye.

"hm," She doubted that. They always found something to bicker about.

"How are we looking out here?" Fifteen asked, changing the subject to their actual job. Charley giggled when Sam almost dropped his gun as the sound of Fifteen's voice.

"Uh… yeah, good."

"That doesn't look too good. What is that?" Fifteen pointed up at the sky and everyone followed her gaze. Charley froze in place as a shadow slowly grew bigger around them. Something huge and grey was falling from the sky, right on top of them. If they didn't move now they would be crushed. Charley's instinct were to go for her gun as she quickly grabbed it from her strap but by the time she held it firmly in her hand the thing had come closer and was almost at the dome.

The dome… of course. That would protect them, right?

It reached the dome and Charley sheltered her eyes as it exploded. An array of light scattered and the massive object, Charley had suspected was a spaceship was no more.

"Holy shit," Charley mouthed.

"God, I love this place," Bucky smiled. Despite the situation Charley's heart felt lighter as she witnessed his goofy grin, smiling up at the technology of Wakanda. He really was still a child at heart. He managed to tear his eyes away from the dome and look at Charley. The gun was still tightly in her hand and she was sure she'd paled, "You okay?"

"Just can't wait for this to be over."

"You've got nothing to prove, you know that right?" Bucky stepped forward, speaking lowly so only him and her could hear.

"It's not about that," Charley replied. Not wanting it to think she was joining them in a war because they didn't think she was capable. She knew she was capable enough, no one else's opinion mattered. She wanted to be fighting side by side her future husband… and maybe save his arse if it came to it, "I can do this. Just every fight I've ever got into has always just happened, there's never any waiting for it. I can't stand this anticipation."

"It'll be over soon."

"Fuck…" Charley gasped as she saw three more spaceships land just outside the dome. She grabbed Bucky's shoulder as they could physically feel the ground move from the landing.

Steve's voice came through the comms, sounding already exhausted and in a state of shock, "Everyone get to your positions on the battlefield, we'll meet you there."

"This is really happening."

"It's not too late-"

"I'm staying, Buck."

"Okay," Bucky finally nodded accepting it, "Let's get going."

He reached for her hand and she appreciated the small squeeze he gave her of reassurance. She needed to steady her breathing if she was going to even manage to walk to this fight. Her legs felt jelly-like, as if she was going to fall over any second. She was about to head off to war. Sam, Fifteen followed behind them. They were about to meet Natasha and Steve whom were one of her closest friends. For a moment her eyes welled up, there was a chance not all of them would make it out alive. She didn't want to think of it. What if she didn't make it out alive?

Bucky would always be with the grief he didn't stop her going to battle with them. She would just prove everyone right that she wasn't ready to fight along side the Avengers. She looked over at Bucky and squeezed his hand back and with the small smile of comfort from Bucky, her fear vanished. Beside him she felt invincible. If something did happen to her, then at least she was surrounded by her family.

"Let's go fuck these Aliens up," She decided, clinging tightly to Bucky.

 _*~It Started with Pizza~*_

Everyone was lined up. T'challa and Steve had come up with the battle plans. Both held the most experience and Charley wasn't about to doubt their words as she stood by Bucky, her gun held protectively against her. Steve, Natasha and T'challa had approached the Wakanda border where they would bargain with the Aliens. She could barely see them in the distance, only blurs of figures. She could, however, see the large tower of three spaceships that had landed outside the walls of Wakanda.

"For your birthday I was thinking we could leave Wakanda for a bit," Charley said, neither of them taking their eyes off the Aliens for a second worried they'd miss something.

"My birthday?"

"Yeah it's in three weeks. Please say you didn't forget."

"I had other things on my mind – so travelling you say?"

"Yeah… well I always wanted to go travelling and you missed out on the opportunity to see the world without being under Hydra's clutches. We could do it as regular annoying tourists instead," Charley said, her heart beating faster as she saw Steve and the others retreating. It clearly didn't go well.

"Yeah, alright." Bucky nodded, his shoulders tensing as he witnessed the same thing Charley had, "just as long as you don't bring your Doctor Who suitcase… it's embarrassing."

"That's a Limited-edition suitcase I'll have you know."

"If you say so."

She was going to bring that Suitcase just to spite him now.

"We'll go see you parents too."

She hadn't expected that. Whilst he never said it, she knew Bucky hated her family. He had pulled the two of them apart and caused Hydra to find them again, after years of dodging them. She couldn't blame him.

She tore her eyes a way from Steve, T'challa and Natasha who by now were only one hundred metres away.

"Bucky… we won't be able to, they're under house arrest."

"We'll find a way," Bucky shrugged as if it was nothing, "I know you miss them and I'd actually like the chance of making a good impression on them for once."

"My little brother loves you, that's good enough for me."

"I'll make the arrangements. Steve will be willing to help set it up too."

"Thank you, I love you." She felt like she never said it enough. She couldn't imagine what her life would be like if Bucky hadn't of turned up at her shop that night. Everything would be so different, and not in a good way.

"Love you too," he responded as Steve reached them, "They surrender?"

From the worried expression on Steve's face that wasn't the case. Steve positioned himself between T'challa and Bucky, readying himself for the battle, "not exactly."

The Wakandan army started chanting. Charley looked over at the crowd. There was so many faces she knew, even Wakanda's people she had gotten to know so well over the past year. She considered many a good friend. She just hoped that the kids who lived closest to hers and Bucky's hut were away safe from danger.

The Aliens came into view, they were still blurs to Charley but she could make out the mis-matched form of creatures making their way to the protective dome around them. Monstrously they threw themselves at the barrier, most instantly died as they were burnt from the impact.

"here we go," Bucky muttered beside her as he raised his gun and moving into defence position. Charley followed suit, trying to remember all the training she had been given from Natasha and Fifteen before deciding to stop thinking and just do it. It would all come back to her on instinct.

"They're killing themselves," Okeye muttered in shock and Charley saw with disgust as they tried to tear open the barrier, managing to get half of their bodies through before searing themselves in half. It was brutal, as if the things didn't have any thoughts for their selves. It was pitiful.

The ones that did get through were easily shot down before they made it one hundred metres closer.

"What the hell."

The mindless creatures began running around the dome to try and find an opening, and were beginning to circle them. They had no army other than the one facing this way. Even though the barrier was holding, if they did manage to get through they would surround them. That couldn't happen. Through the comms Charley heard T'challa order to open the barrier.

Steve prepared himself and she could see he was preparing for a spring. Bucky did the same and eventually everyone was getting ready to run towards the monsters.

"Here we go," Bucky said. Without thinking, Charley reached over and kissed him. For a moment he seemed stunned but shook it off, responding back. It wasn't a particularly romantic kiss as T'challa shouted orders around them and the Wakanda's chanted 'Wakanda forever' and Steve and the others began to run leaving the two of them a second behind the others.

"Don't die," She warned, running off after them.

"I've got your back."

Raising her gun Charley sprinted as fast as she could. Despite being a super soldier, Bucky held back on running just as fast as Steve as he had reached the aliens already and was punching them with everything he had. She screamed as she ran, only for the fury and adrenaline pumping through her. Every fibre of her being hated these monsters as they attacked her home. She was going to make them pay.

She raised her gun and started shooting before she even arrived at the heat of the action, making sure she had a clear shot and wasn't hitting any other human.

Bucky left her view as a few of the creatures rounded on Charley. She shot them down before more came. Gathering all her strength she dived to the floor and used a hidden knife to stab one in the belly. Stench filled the air as the alien cried out in pain, bearing its slime covered teeth.

It was just as Bucky said, it was easier to kill mindless creatures like this.

"Charley on your right," Sam said through the comms. Charley quickly shot a stray bullet to her right without looking, praying It caught her target as she kept her eyes in front of her. She heard an Alien fall but she dived just in time as another one appeared from her left. Covered in mud, she had to claw her way up, using the corpse of another alien as a shield as she shuffled backwards, shooting off bullets without a second thought. She barely had time to breath as Aliens, Wakandans and Avengers ran past her. They didn't stay long enough for her to see who it was. Another creature appeared at her side and she used all her leg strength to spring herself up and jump on its wet back, using her knife and jabbed it as hard as she could into its neck, it squealed out and thrashed about, Charley could no longer hold on to its slimy body and fell off. Quickly she dusted herself off, trying to collapse a look of metal in the crowd but only saw the reflection of everyone's armour. He was nowhere in sight. Trying not to panic, she wiped blood a way from her mouth, hoping it was her own blood and not Alien's. Catching her breath before re-joining the fight.

It was hard to run in the mud, it was what was tiring her legs out the most as she had to focus most of her energy in her punches as her legs were giving way. A flash of blonde caught her eye as she backed up into Fifteen, both jumped in surprise, neither realising how close they were to one another.

"You okay?" Fifteen asked, shooting an Alien behind Charley.

"Not really, have you seen Bucky?"

"I haven't seen much, just lots and lots of Aliens."

"This is crazy," Charley choked, swiping her legs and knocking an Alien off its feet. But it's misshapen body made it easy for it to get back up again.

"Disgusting more like."

The fight continued on… and on… and on… it was never ending stream of Aliens. Thousands of their corpses laid on the battlefield and Charley struggled just to move. She started backing up, the battlefield becoming too crowded.

'Fuck sake," Charley growled as she hadn't been looking where she was going and lost her footing, tumbling down in a ditch. Ten Aliens followed after her, as she used the advantage of the ditch sloping downwards and rolled down it. Her body clung to the mud and the Aliens ran past her, probably presuming she was just another corpse on the floor. When she could no longer hear their sloppy footsteps, she looked up, finally taking a breath of well needed air.

"Buck," Charley held her ear up to her earpiece, forgetting she had it for a second. She was aware everyone else could hear their conversation but she didn't care, she wanted to know he was still safe, "Please say you're still live."

"I'm – here - babe," Bucky said in between breaths and the clear sound of gunfire could be heard in the distance, "Kind – of – have twenty on – me at the moment."

"Fuck em' up for me." Was all she said, the relief he was still alive was enough for her to continue fighting, as she used her knee as a crutch to get up and crawl out of the ditch she found herself in. Suddenly she knocked over the head and was thrown backward and five Aliens menacingly surrounded her, blocking out the vision of the light. She couldn't get her arms to move, trapped under the body of a fallen Alien as she rolled back into the ditch. The Aliens closely followed her and clawed at her body. She screamed out as they teared into her leg. Wildly, she thrashed, trying to find a way out, but they trapped her in and she cocooned herself up, trying to protect her head. The smell of blood met her nostrils and a stray tear strolled down her cheek absently. They fisted at her wrists, trying to get her to release her head but she knew once she did that they would tear at her face. The vibranium armour was still protecting most of her body. She looked down and saw the knife at her side… if only she could get to it….

'one, two…" She counted down. She could do this. Just breath. Just breath, "FUCK OFF!" She screamed as a particular one grabbed at her ankle and began to try and drag her backwards. She let out a yell as pain stabbed through her ankle.

Seeing no way out of this, she decided to do it and reached down for her knife. She was going to die if she did nothing. There was no need, however, as a second later a ray of lighting bolts slashed across the air, Charley ducked for cover the blinding light stinging her eyes. The Aliens let out a scream and were no more, their lifeless bodies flew across the air and landed with a loud thump metres away from her.

"What the hell was that," Charley cried, forcing herself up. The ditch felt like it had been dug deeper in the last thirty seconds as it required five times the effort to get out of it. Her ankle screamed at her to lay down and let the battle continue without her, but she refused to listen. The curiosity to what had brought on the lightning bolt made her continue up. She finally reached the top and gawked in awe as Thor, a walking freaking tree and a bloody racoon were standing in the open field.

"Okay… this is normal." She reasoned as she lay in the ditch. A stray hand leant down and she took it gladly, looking up to see it was Natasha who had pulled her up.

"You having fun yet?"

"Wouldn't call this fun… so that's thor?"

"That's Thor."

"I wouldn't say no," Charley considered, he was definitely ripped as hell and who could deny how sexy that entrance was. He hadn't even met her and he'd already saved her life.

"Hands off you've got a future husband."

"Meh… he can be traded," Charley shrugged, "let's get going, the fights only just getting exciting."

The adrenaline pumping through her veins stopped her ankle from giving out on her. There was no other choice but to continue as Aliens ran left right and centre to them. She stuck close to Natasha, feeling safer with the Avenger by her side. Together they worked well as a team. Charley quickly run out of her bullets on her gun and shoved it back in her holster and picked up the nearest gun from a corpse nearby, trying not to gag at the sight of their blood soaked body.

"Guys we've got a vision situation over here," Sam said through the comms. Charley turned around to the city of Wakanda were Vision was meant to be held safe with Wanda but saw with a shock Vision falling from the Window. Not knowing what else she could do, Charley began to run towards Vision's falling body. She knew she wouldn't get there on time but she had to do something. Natasha followed her as they ran past a similar ditch to the one Charley had found herself in earlier.

In it Wanda lay helplessly on the floor with a different kind of Alien standing above her. This Alien was more human like but had grayish moulding skin, taller than most and her blue hair slicked backwards. A evil look in her eye as she targeted Wanda. Charley didn't know the witch very well but she had come rescued her and Bucky from the Hydra base well over a year ago and Charley was sure if she got to know her better, Wanda would become a good friend.

"He will die alone. As will you."

Natasha jumped down one side and Charley the other. Next to her Okeye appeared, all were ready to attack.

"She's not alone." Natasha smirked, raising her spear.

The Alien turned and realised with defeat she was surrounded. Not that this stopped her from diving at Natasha whose quick reflexes stopped the attack as she raised her spear.

Charley fired off a number of bullets which she noticed with dismay didn't even begin to pierce the aliens skin. Throwing the gun aside she jumped in, a knife in one hand as she landed on the Aliens back. She shoved her off and Charley swung her legs out but the Alien just kicked her aside and focused most of her attack on Natasha who was slowly dodging backwards.

Out of the corner of her eye Charley saw Wanda rise, the mist of red appeared from her fingers as she trapped the Alien in it, raising her up. A large chopping machine that Charley had spied racing around the battlefield caught the Alien and a splash of blue blood later, she was no more.

Natasha managed to pull herself up onto her elbows, half winded said, "that was disgusting."

"CHARLEY!" At the call of her name and the familiar voice, Charley turned and saw Bucky reached a hand into the trench. She reached up and caught at it. With little effort he pulled her out. He turned around to help Natasha out, Wanda flew out on her own and Okeye scrambled up herself.

"Vision. Right?" Charley confirmed.

"We better get to him."

In the distance Charley could see Wanda had already arrived.

She looked around the rest of the battle field to see where she was most needed, almost all of the aliens had already fallen. The Wakandas were dealing with the rest with ease. The battle was almost over, they just needed to save Vision.

She wasn't sure how much use she could be over there, as the rest of the Avengers all swarmed towards the trees where they had seen Vision falling. Natasha had already set off and Fifteen was close behind.

"Might as well help over there, right?" Charley asked Bucky who nodded in response. The two headed off after them.

"Did you see that talking Racoon?"

"The racoon talks too?"

"Wanted my arm."

"Tell him he's not having it." She was rather fond on his new arm.

"I did."

"Good – there was a fighting tree too."

"So I saw."

" _Crazy_."

Both were still new to this Avenger business. She supposed Aliens and talking trees and racoons were an everyday occurrence to the Avengers.

Up a head Fifteen and Natasha disappeared from the trees. They were still a few hundred metres away from the forest so Charley called up to her comms, curious as to what was happening.

"We're just on our way, what's going on?"

A sombre silence followed. She could still hear the battle continuing behind her but that was growing quite in the distance, but up in front the silence was unsettling.

After seconds of eerie quiet, fifteen responded, "Steve says he's here."

"Who?" Charley frowned, "Whose here?"

"Thanos."

With that one word, Bucky's legs moved faster and Charley didn't have time to think as she ran as fast as she could after him. Her legs working overtime. Leaving the battle behind had caused her adrenaline to pump down and the pain in her ankle was beginning to come back, but she ignored it and focused on following Bucky who was slowly leaving her behind.

As they entered the thick of the trees, Charley almost came to a halt beside a frozen Fifteen, when in the near distance she saw the figure of yet another Alien. They really did come in all shapes and sizes. A large purple man eerily strolled through the forest plains as if he had no care in the world for the Avengers raising towards him. A single arm raised on a closed fist that held a golden gauntlet, the colours of five stones glistened against the dense green trees.

Charley inspected the scene. Bruce dressed in some sort of Hulk armour had become an accessory on the wall. Steve was charging towards him. At the other end was Vision, only a shockingly short distance away. She almost ran in their direction instead of Thanos, to try and get them out but she saw Wanda raise her arm to Vision. The red mist leaving her fingers and enter Visions forehead where the mind stone flickered.

Stop Thanos it was then.

Steve dropped to the floor as if Thanos had simply swatted him a way. At the fall of his friend, Bucky charged forward and Charley followed closely.

Bucky was thrown to the ground, Thanos simply moving the gauntlet and Bucky followed an imaginary trail and no matter how hard he pushed he still crashed to the ground. Checking he wasn't hurt, Charley ran forward too, raising her gun. No fear was left after the battle she had just gone through. She wanted it finished. Her and fifteen ran together. As they ran they fired off bullets one by one. She wasn't aiming, sweat dripped in her eyelids hindering her vision.

The shot of their guns made no difference as Thanos formed a protective barrier. As they got closer Charley suddenly felt herself floating, she tried moving her legs to continue her mission of defeating Thanos but he was growing smaller in the distance as if she was running backwards. Her feet were no longer touching the floor as the imaginary bubble holding her, carried her down and she collapsed next to Bucky. A loud cry sounded behind them as Fifteen's back smashed into a tree and the trunk of the tree moulded around her body, pinning her in place. She had never seen anything like it.

She tried getting up but her legs wouldn't let her. Thanos was moving closer to Wanda and she tried with every ounce of her power to get up. Finally, she gave an exhausted breath. Bucky reached arm out, protectively holding her stomach towards him. There were still a few Avengers up but they were falling quickly. Natasha ended up as a heap in the ground and Steve almost took Thanos on but was finally was defeated as Thanos gave him an almighty punch.

"We're going to lose," Charley shakily realised, not wanting to witness anymore as she hid in Bucky's chest.

Noises screamed around her. The sound of Wanda crying and her powers flourishing. Thanos grunting as he tried to move closer, when suddenly a massive wind swept over them that blew Bucky and her back and then… silence.

"What happening?" Charley asked tentatively, not sure if she wanted to know. Bucky didn't speak so she dared a peak out. Wanda was collapsed onto the floor, Vision was nowhere to be seen and Thanos stared numbly at where Vision had just been.

Wanda had done it.

Unnerved by the sight of Thanos, she clutched onto Bucky tighter. The air was chilling as he took a step forward, raised up his gauntlet. Wanda screamed and tried to stop him and it was as if time itself was unmade.

Vision appeared again and the look of shock on his face was quickly removed as Thanos fisted his forehead, grabbed the mind stone and ripped it away. A flicker of sparks faltered Vision's system before the colour itself drained from his body, leaving a black corpse as he froze in time, his body falling lifelessly to the floor. Thanos rolled him away as if he was nothing but dirt, his focus remained on the precious stone finally in his hand. That stone had cost the lives of Vision, dozens of Wakanda's and goodness knows who else.

Charley's wrist felt like it was going to break by how tightly Bucky held on to her. She still couldn't get up and move, her feet glued to the floor but she managed to shelter herself further into Bucky's chest.

She didn't want to see as Thanos raised his gauntlet and placed the final stone in the centre. Completing his sparkly collection. All of this distress and misery because of these stones. Charley wasn't sure what it was worth, but surly whatever the gauntlet could do… it wasn't worth this.

Light flashed across them, and Charley recognized the familiar feel from before as Thor let out a scream, appearing from the sky like an angel descending from Heaven. His aim on Thanos as he landed a fatal blow to the chest, his hammer lodged tightly in him. Thanos stumbled backwards, his eyes widening in shock.

Charley let out a whimper. Had Thor really done it? Were they saved?

"I told you, you'd die for that." was Thor's words.

With a shaky breath, Thanos struggled to look up and meet the God of Thunders eye. An unsettling distaste landed in Charley's stomach as he spoke.

"You should have gone for the head."

A second later and a blind of white faded across the air and Thanos clicked his fingers. There was no time to scream but Charley reached out for the one thing she wanted in that moment and clung to Bucky's chest. Shielding her eyes from whatever Thanos did. Ignorance was bliss… right?

Thanos disappeared. He slid back as a portal appeared behind him and disappeared without a trace of him ever being there. Thor looked blankly at where he had just been, moments before.

Now able to move, it was like taking a long-awaited breath of air. Her muscle untensed and Charley shakily stood up and held out an arm for Bucky who she noticed was limping. Both had gotten some damage after the battle. Her arm felt like it was about to fall of and she could taste the smell of blood on her lips as it dripped down her face. She wasn't about to complain. They were both still alive and that's all that mattered.

"What did he do?" Charley asked Bucky, he was probably the wrong person to ask as he was as much in the dark as she was, "Does anyone know? What did he do?"

"I don't know but I feel like crap."

"Same," Charley said as Bucky leant on her. She tightened her arm around his waist as he draped an arm around her neck. She was surprised, usually when they ended up in these situations it was her leaning on him. Perhaps he took more damage than she had first thought, "Might have to hold off on the sex tonight."

"But you promised," Bucky pouted, managing to crack a smile. He sobers almost immediately and Charley quickly grows more concerned as he leans his full body weight on her. She had to use all her remaining body strength to keep him up right, almost collapsing. With a shaky breath he said, "You did really good out there, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks but - Bucky… are you okay?"

"It's just… I don't know... Doll-face?" Charley's legs gave weigh under his super soldier weight, and she stumbled to the floor. Expecting to feel Bucky topple on her she's surprised when she feels nothing but air. She looks up and sees the stale wind around her, ashes blow to the ground next to her where Bucky had just stood.

"Buck?" Charley looks around desperately, there was a tree right next to them, maybe he just went there. She had only looked down for a second. She got up and went behind the tree but couldn't find him. She turned around and saw Steve who was looking at the place Bucky had stood blankly. His face white as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"Steve? Did you see where he went? Where is he?"

Steve stumbled forward, keeping his eyes locked to the ground where the ash pile appeared as he collapsed down next to it, reaching his hands to touch the empty air.

"No…" Charley realised what Steve was telling her, "He was right here. That can't be right."

The air stilled as screams stifled through the forest. Charley turned and saw a fellow Dora Milaji fall next to her, her body turning to ash as if she had never been there. The look of fear in her eyes was evident and it was the last thing Charley saw before she was gone.

"no…" Charley cried, tears stinging in her eye as she turned to the spot Bucky had gone. She was aware of cries for fallen friends and families around her but there was only one person she cared about. She grabbed Steve's shoulders and forced him to face her. Given any other situation she would have found it impossible to move Captain America but it seemed there was no strength left in him either, "BRING HIM BACK! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY. Please, Steve, come on. You must have a plan… he can't…. no… shit… shit… he can't… no."

Her lungs felt like they had closed on her as she used the nearest tree for support. She couldn't breath, the air escaped around her as she fell next to the pile of ash. Reaching out to him as she had done so many times before, hoping that by some miracle he could catch her. But there was nothing there.

"I'm sorry Charley," Steve whispered, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. She clutched onto him, the tears never ending as she reached a state of hysteria. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she didn't want to be here. Not anymore. She closed her eyes and clutched onto Steve as tight as she could, terrified he'd disappear beside her as well.

"Bring him back," She repeated, not able to say anything else.

A/N

 **Russian:**

 **Bucky: you look too hot in that outfit**

 **Charley: Keep talking like that and tonight you'll get lucky.**

Second part will be up in just a moment.


	53. Infinity war p2

**Infinity war p.2**

In the centre of Wakanda Shuri and her mother had raised a tribute to those who had fallen. The past few weeks saw hundreds of Wakandans surrounding the memorial, tracing their loved one's name. There were no bodies to bury, just a battlefield full of ash.

Charley found herself numbly following the names. The hall stretched out forever, reaching up to the top of the ceiling where a balcony had to be constructed just to see the top names. Charley's wandering stare would catch a particular name at the bottom, which she found herself staring at for hours on end until either Steve or Fifteen had to forcibly pull her away. Shuri was often found in there too. Charley and her never spoke but they would catch each other's eye and give each other a silent nod of understanding in their grief.

"How long have you been here this time?" A voice made her jump. She'd been too transfixed by the name James Buchanan Barnes.

"Dunno," Charley shrugged. She didn't care. There was nothing else for her to do.

"Do you want to go get some food?" Fifteen asked and Charley shrugged again, "…I'll take that as a no."

Charley bit the inside of her mouth. The last thing she needed was another lecture from her or Steve… about them wanting you to move on, to stop mopping about. It didn't matter what they told her, the aching and longing for them never went away.

" _Look_ -" Charley snapped, sucking in her breath, "I'm just in here for a bit of peace and quite so if you don't mind…"

"You're not the only one who lost someone. Steve lost Bucky too and – and Sam, I lost my parents. Every name on this board had someone who loved them dearly that was left behind." Fifteen's eyes gleamed with tears, stunning Charley for a second. She had never seen the ex-Hydra agent cry.

"You're parents… I didn't realize…"

"You never asked who I lost."

She should have realised. Fifteen hadn't spoken much over the past week, and whenever she did it was only to drag Charley away from the memorial. She didn't think. She hadn't thought of anything but her only self-grief. She should have been there for her, just as Fifteen was there for her.

"How- how did you find out? I thought you didn't know your parents?"

"I was curious," Fifteen shrugged, "Natasha helped me find out. Both of them disappeared apparently. There's a massive list of the dead being compiled by the world governments. It's taking a bit of time of course… considering it was half the population."

Charley's stomach dropped. It shouldn't have been Natasha who helped Fifteen, as her best friend that was her duty. Charley rocked back on her heels and frowned, "I'm really sorry I wasn't there."

"No, no I get it. I just wish you wouldn't do this to yourself," Fifteen said, "You've been through so much and you're just going to sink yourself down into depression. I know Steve's struggling with Bucky and- and S-Sam…."

"I'm so sorry Fifteen…"

"We're all sorry, nothing we can do about it," Fifteen let out a deep sigh, a stray tear making its way across her cheek but she quickly dusted it away.

"I don't know what to do," Charley admitted, finding wetness on her cheeks. _Great_ , now _she_ was crying. It'd be another hour before she stopped. A lump formed in her throat as she tried to speak but it suddenly seemed impossible, and Charley was well aware of how closely Fifteen was watching her, "just… I don't know… I wasn't expecting it. We had so many plans. Yesterday was his birthday… I don't know. I just… I don't want to do this without him."

She reached down for his dog tags that never left her neck and clutched them tightly. They were always being split apart.

"I know." Fifteen said honestly. Fifteen held out her hand and Charley took it gratefully. She was glad she had Fifteen there with her, Natasha had left again. She never stayed too long in one place, this time she left with Bruce. This time, however, she didn't say goodbye. So much had happened in the past week that she probably presumed leaving in the dead of the night was for the best. It was just one more friend she'd lost along the way, "Go speak to Steve, he's struggling just as much as you, he just won't admit it."

"Okay…" Charley took a brave breath and stepped back away from the tribute. Her eyes focusing one more time on Bucky's name. She wanted to rip it off and pretend it was never there, "I think I'll go now if that's okay." She thought if she stayed there any longer she might suffocate.

"Yeah, that's fine. I'll be in my room if you need me." Instead of going off in the direction of her room, however, Fifteen found Shuri and offered her a tissue. The African Princess took it gratefully and with a sad smile. The poor girl, she'd only lost her father recently, and now her brother.

The question on who would take the throne hadn't been raised yet and Charley half wondered if the mantle would go to the princess. Wakanda had become a ghost town of its former self. The markets had been closed for weeks and people spoke in hushed tones, random bouts of crying was now a common occurrence and everyone walked the corridors with a glum expression.

Taking her time, Charley made her way up the balcony and followed the path she knew Steve's room to be. She kept her head low in case someone asked her if she was alright with her puffy eyes and runny nose. She wasn't alright but that didn't mean she wanted to talk about it.

She knocked against his door, feeling nothing in her fingers from keeping them balled up so tightly. She really didn't want to talk to Steve, but Fifteen was right. She couldn't keep it bottled up. She needed to rely on someone and Bucky's best friend was the best bet. She needed someone she trusted.

She needed someone to know what she was hiding.

"Come in," Steve's voice said softly through the door.

Taking a breath, Charley stepped through the door.

"Charley…" Steve stumbled up, dropping a pencil he'd been holding and closing a notebook rather quickly that if Charley was in any other mood would have caused her to become suspicious but she really didn't care about what he'd been doodling in this particular moment, "I haven't seen you much, how are you?"

Not bothering to greet him, she walked straight to the window where the vastness of the jungle could be seen. The large Black Panther statue stood proudly. There was no black panther now. T'challa was gone too.

Steve didn't say anything as Charley saw a picture on the window sill. It was a fresh picture she hadn't seen before in Wakanda but had seen once before back in Sam's apartment. She remembered it because of the moody facial expression Steve had been pulling as if he wasn't expecting to be photographed, beside him was an adorable puppy like grin from Sam as he took a selfie of the two of them.

"Both of my best friends have gone," Steve admitted, noticing the picture she was looking at. A sad look passed across his face and his shoulders slumped as he rested against his desk in defeat, "And Tony – I don't even know if he made it… if he's still alive"

"it's Tony. He has a knack for surviving the impossible," Charley cut across him, her tone dead.

"Yeah…" Steve sighed, a picture of a broken man as he ran a hand across his face. She spotted the dark circles under his eyes and wondered if he'd looked this rough for the past week now or if she just hadn't noticed it.

"It's not fair," Charley dared a step forward, "Everyone whose gone doesn't know what they've left behind. It's us that has to deal with it. I wish I'd been taken instead of him. I wish I was dead-"

"Don't say that," Steve snapped, pulling himself up. He took her into his arms and wrapped himself around her. His chin rested on her head as he slowly rocked her back and forth, "You know Buck wouldn't want you to talk like that."

"I know…" Charley gulped, half chocking as her throat was caught on a lump. Of course, Bucky wouldn't want her to delve so far into depression she couldn't get out again. He had left her before with the expectation she'd live her life without him. She didn't want too though, she never wanted too. Not with what she knew – "It's different though. No one gets it…"

"Of course, we get it, I've lost more than I thought I could lose in the past week. Don't make me lose you too Charley," he wiped a tear away as he stepped back.

"I found something out the other day."

Be brave, Charley told herself trying to steady her breathing. She couldn't hide it for much longer and if she was going to tell someone first she wanted it to be someone Bucky would have wanted her to go too. He was after all the person he'd asked to keep her safe the last time he left her. Hopefully Steve would keep to his promise. She didn't think she could do this alone.

Steve waited, listening with curiosity and she realised there was no going back now. Even if the door did look appealing to leave out of.

"I'm pregnant," Charley let out. Another heart beat later and she was in a flood of tears.

Finally looking up to test his reaction, she went into another fit of tears when she saw her gawping at him, his mouth hanging open in an 'O' Shape. From the lack of energy, she wobbled on her feet and she reached out to catch his arms, luckily Steve caught her before she fell over.

"I'm really scared Steve. I don't know what to do."

"Did you plan it?"

" _No_ , we'd only just spoken about marriage."

Marriage. They were going to be married if it hadn't been for Thanos. She didn't even have a ring to prove it. She burst out crying, half wanting to run away and half wanting comfort she went for the latter as Steve forced her into his arms.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I'm going to be here for you every step of the way."

"I have no idea what I'm doing though," Charley confessed. She didn't know anything about kids. In fairness neither had Bucky, but at least they would have figured it out together like they always did. Together or not at all. Apparently, the universe had other plans for them though.

"Bucky would be so happy."

"I don't know if he would be but thanks," Charley sniffed through the years, realising how wet she was making his t-shirt.

"Of course he would," Steve nodded positively, "All he wanted was to start a new life with you."

"He's not here to enjoy though."

"You never know…" Steve trailed off, "There might be a way. We don't know where everyone went."

"Don't give me false hope Steve."

"Sorry," he knew what he was saying was just a theory. She'd heard it all around Wakanda that the people who turned to ash, hadn't really died but had just been transported somewhere else. She wanted to believe it, she really did but she knew if she allowed herself too she'd cling to the theory as if it were air she needed to breath in.

"How long have you known?"

"Two days."

She'd taken three tests to confirm it and still she wasn't sure if she believed it.

"Maybe we should go see Shuri to get you checked out…"

"No, I don't know if I'm ready for people to know and plus Shuri has so much on her plate now," Charley quickly cut across.

"Okay… we can talk to any doctor here."

"No," She cut across again, her face glowing red with embarrassment, "I don't want to go back to those rooms." The last time she had seen a doctor here was when they had locked her in a room after her memory loss. She hadn't been near that part of Wakanda the entire time she'd been here, "I think… maybe I need to get out of Wakanda for a bit."

"Are you sure that's for the best?"

"I can't stay here," Charley looked down sadly, "All I see is Bucky here… I know I should remember him, but it hurts to much you know…" She almost wished she could have her memory wiped again, it would be easier and less painful than to keep replaying the happy memories that were no more.

"I'll come with you"

"you don't have to come with me-"

"I want to," Steve nodded, "I wanted to get out of here myself anyway."

"Why did you stick around then?"

"I thought you might need me," Steve admitted, looking away at the image of the jungle. She knew he didn't want to look her in the eye, "and maybe I needed someone too."

"I can't stay here. Fifteen's right, it's not healthy what I'm doing"

"Not for your or the baby."

Charley half laughed, it was surreal to think a tiny life was growing inside of her. She'd tried not to think of it as she'd been to focused on doing it alone without Bucky, but with Steve's support she felt… better… at least. It still wasn't the same.

Steve noticed her gazing off and shook her shoulders slightly to bring her back to earth, "You with me?"

"Yeah."

 **A/N So I know I'm evil. I don't know what else you expected. Lol. I know the ending doesn't conclude much and it's probably the worst thing I could have possibly ended it with but I quite like leaving it open ended, it'll let me maybe come back to it when Avengers 4 comes out but honestly I don't know what I'll be doing in a years' time. Its sad to think this story is finally finished now, but also incredibly relieving.**

 **Thank you all so much. I couldn't have written this without you. I'm so sorry for being a terrible writer sometimes with my slow updates but we got there in the end. It's been an awesome journey guys.**

 **Also to all of you who gave me some fanfiction requests for my friend, thanks a million. She's just started reading what I think she called ;The A team' which queengeek suggested and she loves it, so she says thanks**

 **I don't normally ask you guys to review because that's up to you but I'd love it if you could review this chapter just to let me know what you thought of the ending. I'll try to add another chapter answering anything.**

 **Thank you so much as always!**


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